GitHub to use Copilot data for AI training from April 24; how to opt out?

From an email GitHub sent to users and an announcement on its official blog, it has become clear that GitHub will change its policy to use data from interactions in GitHub Copilot for training and improving AI models.

GitHub Copilot originally used user data for AI training, but later shifted to a policy of not using it for training, so this means it has now returned to a policy of using it for training.

GitHub Copilot data will be used for AI training by default starting April 24

It has been learned that GitHub will switch to a policy of using user interactions in GitHub Copilot for training and improving AI models.

According to an email sent to users, a related blog post, and an FAQ about this matter, from April 24, 2026 onward, unless users decline in settings, inputs, outputs, code snippets, related context, and other data included in interactions with GitHub Copilot by GitHub Copilot Free, Pro, and Pro+ users will be used for AI training and improvement.

GitHub explains this change as being made "to deliver more intelligent, context-aware coding assistance."

According to validation using Microsoft internal data, improvements were observed, such as higher suggestion acceptance rates across multiple languages.

The collected data may be shared with GitHub affiliates (within the corporate group including Microsoft Corporation and its subsidiaries).

Furthermore, GitHub says that third-party AI providers will not receive the data for training their own models, and that user data will not be sold.

Those affected by this change are individual users of Copilot Free, Pro, and Pro+, while Copilot Business and Copilot Enterprise are excluded.

In addition, Copilot Pro used free of charge by students and teachers is also excluded from this change.

Recently, GitHub also changed its student free plan so that some premium models, such as GPT-5.4 and Claude, can no longer be selected manually as part of a reorganization of the free plan for students.

GitHub Copilot student discount no longer allows selecting GPT-5.4 or Claude, with some models limited to Auto mode only amid plan reorganization

On March 12, 2026, GitHub announced that, in conjunction with a reorganization of GitHub Copilot's free plan for students, some premium models such as Claude Opus, Claude Sonnet, and GPT-5.4 will no longer be available for selection. This became clear through an official GitHub community discussion and an email sent to users of GitHub Copilot's student plan.

March 13, 2026

What data will be used for training?

According to GitHub's announcement, under this policy change, data used for AI training includes Copilot suggestions that users accepted or modified, inputs sent to Copilot, code snippets shown to the model, code context around the cursor, comments and documentation written by users, file names, repository structure, navigation patterns, interactions with features such as Copilot Chat and inline suggestions, and feedback such as thumbs-up and thumbs-down on suggestions.

Data from private repositories that are not using GitHub Copilot is not included in training, but code snippets and output content sent to Copilot while working in private repositories may be used for training.

However, GitHub says that repositories belonging to paid Organizations will not be used for training, even if they are accessed using the personal Copilot Free, Pro, or Pro+ plans.

GitHub also explains that if a user's GitHub account is a member of a paid Organization or an outside collaborator, that user will be excluded from training.

In addition, GitHub says it has implemented multiple safeguards, including automatic filtering to detect and remove API keys, passwords, tokens, and personal information, controls over which repositories Copilot can access, access limited to authorized personnel, and access logs and auditing.

How to opt out

This change will take effect on April 24, 2026.

If you are using a plan whose data is subject to training and do not want your interactions with Copilot to be used for training, you can opt out from your GitHub account settings.

For users who had already opted out during the period when GitHub was previously using Copilot user data for training, that setting will be carried over, and their data will not be used for training after this change unless they explicitly enable it.

A more detailed opt-out method is introduced in the following article.

How to configure GitHub Copilot not to train on your code

GitHub Copilot may collect code snippets written by users and use them to improve its models. In this article, I explain how to opt out so that GitHub Copilot data is not used for AI training.

March 26, 2026

Conclusion

It has become clear that GitHub will switch to a policy of using user interactions in GitHub Copilot for training and improving AI models starting on April 24.

If you are using a plan whose data is subject to training and do not want your interactions with Copilot to be used for AI training, you can opt out from your GitHub account settings.