The Great Code Harvest: How to Opt-Out of GitHub’s New Copilot AI Data Training Mandate

GitHub announced that beginning April 24, 2026, GitHub Copilot will, by default for Free, Pro, and Pro+ tiers, collect interactive telemetry (including submitted code snippets, surrounding context, file names, repository structure, conversational interactions, and developer feedback) to train and improve AI models; Commercial and Enterprise editions are exempt by default. The announcement explains the data categories, notes data may be shared with Microsoft-affiliated entities (not external model providers), and instructs users how to opt out via Settings > Copilot > Features > Privacy > Allow GitHub to use my data for AI Model training.