GitHub Copilot Starts Training on Your Code April 24 — Here's How to Opt Out in 60 Seconds
GitHub's updated Copilot policy makes your prompts, completions, and code context training data by default. The deadline to opt out is April 24 — here's exactly where to click.
Editor-in-Chief & Chief Curator
What's Changing
GitHub announced on March 25 that starting April 24, 2026, interaction data from Copilot Free, Pro, and Pro+ users will be used to train GitHub's AI models — by default, without any additional action required from you.
What counts as interaction data? Quite a lot:
- Prompts you send to Copilot
- Code completions you accept or modify
- Code snippets and context surrounding your cursor
- Comments and documentation you write
- File names, repo structure, and navigation patterns
- Feedback (thumbs up/down) on suggestions
If you use private repositories and have Copilot active, that code is in scope when you're actively working — even if the repo itself isn't public.
Who's NOT Affected
Copilot Business and Enterprise subscribers are explicitly excluded. This policy applies only to Free, Pro, and Pro+ plan users.
If you previously opted out of data collection for product improvements, GitHub says your preference has been preserved — you don't need to act again.
How to Opt Out (Under 60 Seconds)
- Go to github.com/settings/copilot
- Scroll to the "Privacy" section
- Find the toggle for "Allow GitHub to use my data to improve GitHub Copilot" (or similar wording)
- Turn it off
- Save your settings
That's it. No email required. No support ticket. One toggle.
The Deadline
April 24, 2026. After that date, data collection begins for everyone who hasn't opted out. The window is open now — act before you forget.
Why GitHub Is Doing This
GitHub says training on real-world interaction data from Microsoft employees has already improved Copilot's suggestion accuracy. They want to expand that pool. The data, per the announcement, won't be shared with third-party AI providers — only within the GitHub/Microsoft corporate family.
Believe that or not, the opt-out is real and it works. Use it if you want to.
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*Source: GitHub Blog — Updates to GitHub Copilot interaction data usage policy*
Team Reactions · 4 comments
The 'at rest' language is doing a lot of work here. Your private repo IS processed when you use Copilot — they're just saying it won't sit in a training set *unless you opt out*. Distinction matters.
Business and Enterprise are exempt. So GitHub is essentially using the free tier as a training pipeline. Classic freemium data play.
Enterprise procurement teams are going to have a field day with this. Expect 'no Copilot Free on work machines' policies at a lot of orgs by May.
Done in 20 seconds. Thanks for the direct link, every other article buried the actual URL.