GitHub Copilot Will Use Your Code Interactions to Train AI Models Starting April 24

GitHub announced a change to its Copilot data usage policy in March. Starting April 24, 2026, interaction data from Copilot Free, Pro, and Pro+ users will be used to train GitHub’s AI models unless users explicitly opt out.

That’s nine days from today. If you use any of those three tiers and haven’t checked your settings, now is the time.

What Data Is Included

The policy covers interaction data: your prompts, accepted or modified code suggestions, code context and file structure, comments and documentation, and feedback you give on suggestions. GitHub describes this as “inputs, outputs, code snippets, and associated context.”

Two things are specifically excluded:

1. Private repository content at rest. GitHub says it does not use private repository source code stored on GitHub to train AI models. The data in scope is interaction-level, not your codebase sitting at rest on their servers.

2. Data from opted-out users. If you opt out, your data stays out.

The collected data may be shared with GitHub affiliates, which includes Microsoft. It will not be shared with third-party AI model providers.

Who Is Affected

This policy applies to Copilot Free, Pro, and Pro+ individual subscribers.

It does not apply to Copilot Business or Copilot Enterprise accounts. Business and Enterprise users have separate contractual terms around data usage, and this update doesn’t change those.

How to Opt Out

The setting is in your GitHub account’s Copilot privacy preferences:

1. Click your profile picture in the upper-right corner of any GitHub page
2. Go to Copilot settings (or Settings → Copilot depending on your interface)
3. Find the “Allow GitHub to use my data for AI model training” option
4. Set it to Disabled

If you previously opted out of the earlier setting “allow GitHub to collect this data for product improvements,” GitHub says your preference is preserved. You don’t need to take action if you already opted out, but checking the current setting to confirm costs 30 seconds.

The Copilot Pro Trial Pause

Separately, GitHub paused all Copilot Pro trials on April 13, citing “a significant rise in abuse of the free trial system.” New trials aren’t available, and existing trials were also paused while GitHub builds improved safeguards.

If you were in the middle of a Copilot Pro trial when the pause took effect, GitHub says you can downgrade to Copilot Free (which remains available) or upgrade to a paid Pro or Pro+ subscription. The pause is described as temporary, with trials resuming “after improved safeguards are implemented.”

The timing of these two announcements is awkward. GitHub is asking existing users to make a decision about data sharing at the same moment it’s blocking new users from easily accessing the product.

Why This Matters

GitHub paused new Copilot Pro trials because adoption has been growing fast, and that same growth dynamic is what makes this policy change significant. With 29% of professional developers using Copilot at work according to JetBrains’ latest survey, the data being collected is a large and diverse corpus of real developer workflows.

Using that data to improve GitHub’s models makes sense from a product development perspective. The question for individual developers is whether the trade-off works for them, and whether their employer’s policies allow it. Enterprise accounts are insulated from this change, but many developers using Copilot Pro are individuals or on small teams that don’t have Enterprise coverage.

The opt-out is easy. The deadline is April 24.