preforkUpdates to GitHub Copilot interaction data usage policy
> On April 24 we'll start using GitHub Copilot interaction data for AI model training unless you opt out. Review this update and manage your preferences in your GitHub account settings.
Now
"Allow GitHub to use my data for AI model training" is enabled by default.
Turn it off here:
https://github.com/settings/copilot/features
Do they have this set on business accounts also by default? If so, this is really shady.
https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/188488
> Why are you only using data from individuals while excluding businesses and enterprises?
> Our agreements with Business and Enterprise customers prohibit using their Copilot interaction data for model training, and we honor those commitments. Individual users on Free, Pro, and Pro+ plans have control over their data and can opt out at any time.
FAQ: Privacy Statement update on Copilot data use for model training (Free/Pro/Pro+) 路 community 路 Discussion #188488
Hello GitHub Community馃憢 We鈥檙e sharing an update to our Privacy Statement and Terms of Service about how we use personal data to develop, improve, and secure GitHub products and services, including ...
only big companies have access to the legal system. nobody else can afford it
Just confirming, we do not use Copilot interaction data for model training of Copilot Business or Enterprise customers.
Ugh, can't believe they made this opt-in by default, and didn't even post the direct URLs to disable in their blog post.
To add on to your (already helpful!) instructions:
- Go to https://github.com/settings/copilot/features
- Go to the "Privacy" section
- Find: "Allow GitHub to use my data for AI model training"
- Set to disabled
Yes - not impressed at all that this is opt-in default for business users. We have a policy in place with clients that code we write for them won鈥檛 be used in AI training - so expecting us to opt out isn鈥檛 an acceptable approach for a business relationship where the expectation is security and privacy.
If you scroll down to "Allow GitHub to use my data for AI model training" in GitHub settings, you can enable or disable it. However, what really gets me is how they pitch it like it鈥檚 some kind of user-facing feature:
Enabled = You will have access to the feature
Disabled = You won't have access to the feature
As if handing over your data for free is a perk. Kinda hilarious.
I went to check on this and I have everything copilot related disabled and in the two bars that measure usage my Copilot Chat usage was somehow in 2%, how is this possible?
Before anyone comes to me to sell me on AI, this is on my personal account, I have and use it in my business account (but it is a completely different user account), I just make it a point to not use it in my personal time so I can keep my skills sharp.
Does Github count it as copilot chat usage when you use AI search form on their website, I wonder?
I wonder if that鈥檚 it! I occasionally do some code search on GitHub and then remember it doesn鈥檛 work well and go back to searching in the IDE. I usually need to look into not the main branch because I do a lot of projects that have a develop branch where things actually happen. But that would explain so I guess this is it.
If you're taking about the quota bar. That is only measuring your premium request usage (models with a #.#x multiplier next to the name). If you only use the free models and code completion you won't actually consume any "usage". If you use AI code review that consumes a single request (now). Same with the Github Copilot web chat, if you use a free model, it doesn't count, if you use a premium model you get charged the usage cost.
The feature is that your coding style will be in next models!
If you are wholly confident that model training is a violation of the GPL then go sue.
No, it鈥檚 not. Please think like a developer and not like someone playing amateur gotcha journalist on social media. Feature flags are (ab)used in this way all the time. What is a feature? What is a feature flag? It鈥檚 like asking what authorisation is vs all your other business rules. There鈥檚 grey area.
Fun fact: Copilot gives you no way to ignore sensitive files with API keys, passwords, DB credentials, etc.: https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/11254#discussi...
So by default you send all this to Microsoft by opening your IDE.
I swear I just set up enterprise and org level ignore paths.
Separate fun fact: Gemini CLI blocks env vars with strings like 'AUTH' in the name. They have two separate configuration options that both let you allow specific env vars. Neither work (bad vibe coding). Tried opening an issue and a PR, and two separate vibe-coding bots picked up my issue and wrote PRs, but nobody has looked at them. Bug's still there, so can't do git code signing via ssh agent socket. Only choice is to do the less-secure, not-signed git commits.
On top of that, Gemini 3 refuses to refactor open source code, even if you fork it, if Gemini thinks your changes would violate the spirit of the intent of the original developers in a safety/security context. Even if you think you're actually making it more secure, but Gemini doesn't, it won't write your code.
Sadly, this issue is systemic: https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/2847
I appreciated the notification at the top of the screen because it prompted me to disable every single copilot feature I possibly could from my account. I also appreciated Microsoft for making Windows 11 horrible so I could fall back in love with Linux again.