Concerned with apps accessing things without my permission

Yes, all of the built-in Apple apps share information. Photos uses your contact information to do things like figure out who the faces are in your photos. The Contacts app uses Photos for the contact pictures. Calendar access contacts for location information. There is nothing nefarious here.

zivaA wrote:

How do I STOP apps accessing my messages, contacts etc….

You can stop third-party apps from using information by changing the settings for those apps in Settings>Privacy & Security. You cannot stop built-in apps from sharing information.

It is just making it very hard to keep track of the shared information. If an app is requesting the access to our Calendar, we should be aware that it will also have access to the information that Calendar collected from Photos and Contacts or our location. we have to be very cautious when we allow third-party apps access to any of the system apps.

léonie wrote:

It is just making it very hard to keep track of the shared information. If an app is requesting the access to our Calendar, we should be aware that it will also have access to the information that Calendar collected from Photos and Contacts or our location. we have to be very cautious when we allow third-party apps access to any of the system apps.

There is always a tradeoff between convenience and security. All I can suggest is that you let Apple know.

Product Feedback - Apple

(Link provided for the benefit of other readers).

I’ve noticed the same. Apple says it’s not nefarious. It should appear in Safety Check so we can remove it.

How do you remove all this?

How do I STOP apps accessing my messages, contacts etc….