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If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

news.ycombinator.com

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Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#241

Post by _pdp_ »

DougN7 wrote: post #168
_pdp_ wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you will train on data collected from free users working on GPL and copyrighted projects?

And on users that don’t even use github, other than the required account to use CoPilot in Visual Studio.

Exactly.

This affects anyone using VS Code or Copilot with proprietary data, including all the users automating workflows through the Copilot SDK and the like. A perfect storm.

Did anyone from GitHub's legal team actually authorise this, or did they use Copilot to sign off on it?

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#242

Post by elAhmo »

martinwoodward wrote: post #43

No we won’t. Details here https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/updates-to-gi... For users of Free, Pro and Pro+ Copilot, if you don’t opt out then we will start collecting usage data of Copilot for use in model training. If you are a subscriber for Business or Pro we do not train on usage. The blog post covers more details but we do not train on private repo data at rest, just interaction data with Copilot.…

Defaulting to opt-in is a malicious move, no matter how you present things.

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#243

Post by elAhmo »

hirako2000 wrote: post #108
uberman wrote: post #56

If even one person in a repo does not disable this will copilot have full access to the repo? How can I determine if other members of my team have turned this off or not?

The same way you can't determine whether a team member pulling the repo dumped the code into a prompt. It's convenient for MS to make this opt in by default for sure.

It’s not convenient, it is a deliberate decision.

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#244

Post by kriops »

encrypted_bird wrote: post #144
worble wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pro tip: You could instead spend that money to spin up a forgejo instance for as little as $2 a month https://www.pikapods.com/apps#development (not affiliated, just a happy customer) Please don't reward these companies with money.

Or, alternatively, self-host a gitea instance!

No. Money-grab incoming. Use forgejo.

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#245

Post by mrled »

jawilson2 wrote: post #198
mrled wrote: post #155

I'm curious about specific consequences of this. I tend to think the importance of code secrecy has always been exaggerated (there are specific exceptions like hedge fund strategies and malware), even more so now in this post-Claude world. Does anyone have specific things they're trying to avoid by opting out of this?

Algorithms and models for a proprietary trading system? My personal notes? The latex text of my phd thesis? I will go screaming and kicking and fighting into this dystopian nightmare post-privacy shithole world that so many people seem fine with. If I have to move off of every service or technology to maintain some semblance of privacy so be it.

Well, mostly I was thinking about code, and aside from the specific exceptions of trading algorithms (which I was trying to get at when I said hedge fund strategies), and now PhD theses (good point, at least if you're talking pre-publication), I'm still having trouble understanding the threat model even if AI did train on most proprietary, private business code. Can AI training on a CRUD app's code damage a business?

And I have the same question about private notes, or even a diary. Can an AI training on a bunch of personal stuff damage the person that wrote it?

Do you really keep trading algorithms on github?

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#246

Post by ekjhgkejhgk »

landl0rd wrote: post #31

This headline is false; it will not go take your private repos and dump them into a training dataset. Rather, GitHub will train on your copilot interactions with your private repos. If you do not use copilot, this makes no difference to you, though you should probably still turn it off.

I think this kind of nuance is useless or even harmful. That might be how it is now but they'll change it when you're not looking.

You see coders have this reasoning flaw where they go "Oh I've understood the system, now I can work out all the ramifications of my actions", and then they get tricked at every step of the life.

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#247

Post by johndough »

martinwoodward wrote: post #43

No we won’t. Details here https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/updates-to-gi... For users of Free, Pro and Pro+ Copilot, if you don’t opt out then we will start collecting usage data of Copilot for use in model training. If you are a subscriber for Business or Pro we do not train on usage. The blog post covers more details but we do not train on private repo data at rest, just interaction data with Copilot.…

Under GDPR, opt-out is not considered informed consent, and repositories can contain personally identifiable information, which fall under GDPR. Do you think differently, or do you think ignoring the law will be worth it?

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#249

Post by ekjhgkejhgk »

kepano wrote: post #12

I've been saying this since 2023 > If your data is stored in a database that a company can freely read and access (i.e. not end-to-end encrypted), the company will eventually update their ToS so they can use your data for AI training — the incentives are too strong to resist https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37124188

You're right, of course, and I find it frustrating that people are so thick as to not see your claim as obvious.

Stallman is always right.

Re: If you don't opt out by Apr 24 GitHub will train on your private repos

#250

Post by pverheggen »

jffry wrote: post #67
martinwoodward wrote: post #43

No we won’t. Details here https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/updates-to-gi... For users of Free, Pro and Pro+ Copilot, if you don’t opt out then we will start collecting usage data of Copilot for use in model training. If you are a subscriber for Business or Pro we do not train on usage. The blog post covers more details but we do not train on private repo data at rest, just interaction data with Copilot.…

It's unnecessarily splitting hairs. > interaction data—specifically inputs, outputs, code snippets, and associated context [...] will be used to train and improve our AI models So using Copilot in a private repo, where lots of that repo will be used as context for Copilot, means GitHub will be using your private repo as training data when they were not before.

Isn't this pretty standard, using your interaction data for training and making it opt-out? Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity etc. all do the same. Private repo doesn't make a difference as they have a local copy to work from.
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