Discussion

Updates to GitHub Copilot interaction data usage policy

Deukhoofd: So basically they want to retain everyone's full codebases?> The data used in this program may be shared with GitHub affiliates, which are companies in our corporate family including MicrosoftSo every Microsoft owned company will have access to all data Copilot wants to store?

section_me: If I'm paying, which I am, I want to have to opt-in, not opt-out, Mario Rodriguez / @mariorod needs to give his head a wobble.What on earth are they thinking...

sph: > What on earth are they thinking...@mariorod's public README says one of his focuses is "shaping narratives and changing \"How we Work\"", so there you go.

sph: Thanks to Github and the AI apocalypse, all my software is now stored on a private git repository on my server.Why would I even spend time choosing a copyleft license if any bot will use my code as training data to be used in commercial applications? I'm not planning on creating any more opensource code, and what projects of mine still have users will be left on GH for posterity.If you're still serious about opensource, time to move to Codeberg.

mentalgear: > 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/featuresDo they have this set on business accounts also by default? If so, this is really shady.

g947o: 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.

hoten: Why is there no cancel copilot subscription option here?. Docs say there should be...Mobilehttps://github.com/settings/billing/licensing

hmate9: For what it's worth they're not trying to hide this change at all and are very upfront about it and made it quite simple to opt out.

archb: Interestingly, it is disabled by default for me.

gpm: Me too, which is making me wonder if they're planning on silently flipping this setting on April 24th (making it impossible to opt out in advance).

spiderfarmer: Is it because I'm in the EU?

TZubiri: If this doesn't sound bad enough, it's possible that Copilot is already enabled. As we know this kind of features are pushed to users instead of being asked for.Maybe it's already active in our accounts and we don't realize it, so our code will be used to train the AI.Now we can't be sure if this will happen or not, but a company like GitHub should be staying miles away from this kind of policy. I personally wouldn't use GitHub for private corporate repositories. Only as a public web interface for public repos.

mt42or: Is it legal ? Surely not in any EU countries.

mentalgear: At least one instance where it was enabled in EU countries as well.

stefankuehnel: 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’s some kind of user-facing feature:Enabled = You will have access to the featureDisabled = You won't have access to the featureAs if handing over your data for free is a perk. Kinda hilarious.

indigodaddy: Checked and mine was already on disabled. Don't remember if I previously toggled it or not..

martinwoodward: If you previously opted out of the setting allowing GitHub to collect data for product improvements, your preference has been retained here. We figured if you didn't want that then you definitely wouldn't want this..

okanat: Does it even matter? They trained AI on obviously copyrighted and even pirated content. If this change is legally significant and a legal breach, the existence of all models and all AI businesses also is illegal.

martinwoodward: Just confirming, we do not use Copilot interaction data for model training of Copilot Business or Enterprise customers.

fmjrey: Translation: more alignment with Microsoft practices

rvz: > From April 24 onward, interaction data—specifically inputs, outputs, code snippets, and associated context—from Copilot Free, Pro, and Pro+ users will be used to train and improve our AI models unless they opt out.Now is the time to run off of GitHub and consider Codeberg or self hosting like I said before. [0][0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22867803

0x3f: Codeberg doesn't support non OSS and I'd rather just have one 'git' thing I have to know for both OSS and private work. So it's not a great option, IMO. Self-hosting also for other reasons.I'm not sure there are any good GitHub alternatives. I don't trust Gitlab either. Their landing page title currently starts with "Finally, AI". Eek.

matltc: They didn't even link the setting in their email. They didn't even name it specifically, just vaguely gestured toward it. Dark patterns, but that's Microslop for ya

hmate9: going to github i was greeted with a banner and a link directly to the settings for changing it

pred_: What is the legal basis of this in the EU? Ignoring the fact they could end up stealing IP, it seems like the collected information could easily contain PII, and consent would have to be> freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous. In order to obtain freely given consent, it must be given on a voluntary basis.

mirekrusin: The feature is that your coding style will be in next models!

liquid_thyme: They use data from the poor student tier, but arguably, large corporates and businesses hiring talented devs are going to create higher quality training data. Just looking at it logically, not that I like any of this...

diath: > This approach aligns with established industry practices"others are doing it too so it's ok"

theshrike79: Ackshually Anthropic is opt-in AND they give you discounts if you enable it

nodar86: What kind of discounts? I have never heard of this

Rapzid: Is that not some stock feature-flag verbiage?

martin-t: A few days ago, I unchecked it, only to see it checked again when I reloaded the page.It could be incompetence but it shouldn't matter. This level of incompetence should be punished equally to malice.

TZubiri: Two issues with this:1- Vulnerabilities, Secrets can be leaked to other users. 2- Intellectual Property, can also be leaked to other users.Most smart clients won't opt-out, they will just cut usage entirely.

matltc: That's me. Frankly, looking at just uninstalling VSCode because Copilot straight-up gets in the way of so much, and they stopped even bothering with features that are not related to it (with one exception of native browser in v112, which, admittedly, is great)

nine_k: VSCode can be cleaned: https://github.com/VSCodium/vscodium(I prefer Emacs anyway, but VSCode is a worthy tool.)

rectang: I just checked my Github settings, and found that sharing my data was "enabled".This setting does not represent my wishes and I definitely would not have set it that way on purpose. It was either defaulted that way, or when the option was presented to me I configured it the opposite of how I intended.Fortunately, none of the work I do these days with Copilot enabled is sensitive (if it was I would have been much more paranoid).I'm in the USA and pay for Copilot as an individual.Shit like this is why I pay for duck.ai where the main selling point is that the product is private by default.