ChatGPT vs GitHub Copilot

Users can delete chats, delete accounts, export data, use temporary chats, and manage memory settings. Deleted personal data is generally removed within 30 days unless an exception applies.

OpenAI can use your prompts, uploads, and outputs to develop and improve services, including model training, unless you opt out. This creates a meaningful privacy tradeoff for sensitive chats.

Disputes can go to your local courts, which is more user-friendly than mandatory arbitration or class-action waivers. EEA users also get access to an EU dispute resolution platform.

The terms explicitly say consumer rights under applicable law are not waived. This helps protect users against overbroad contract terms.

Users retain ownership of their input and, where legally permitted, own the output assigned by OpenAI. That is stronger than services that claim broad ownership over user-generated results.

You can turn off use of your content for model training in account settings. This is a significant privacy control, even though it is not the default.

The privacy policy allows collection of account data, payment data, prompts, files, contacts, device, usage, cookies, location, and some outside-source data. Users should assume extensive telemetry and content processing.

Although deletion tools exist, OpenAI may keep data longer for legal, security, fraud, abuse, and accounting reasons, and de-identified training data may remain disassociated from your account. So deletion is not always immediate or absolute.

If you use an employer or business-linked account, administrators may control the account and access your content, and your organization may learn you have the account. That reduces privacy in workplace contexts.

Material adverse changes to the terms require at least 30 days' advance notice. This is better than immediate unilateral changes without warning.

Paid plans renew automatically until canceled. After the 14-day cooling-off period, cancellation usually stops future charges but does not refund the remaining billing period.

Personal data may be processed outside Europe, including in the United States, using adequacy decisions or standard contractual clauses. This is common, but some users may prefer local-only processing.

The service is provided as-is, with broad warranty disclaimers and major limits on GitHub’s liability for losses, downtime, or data issues. If Copilot or GitHub causes harm, your remedies may be very limited.

Copilot inputs and outputs can be used to develop and improve GitHub and affiliate AI models unless you opt out. This matters if you do not want prompts, code context, or generated outputs used for model improvement.

Even though you keep ownership, GitHub gets broad rights to host, copy, analyze, display, and use your content to run and improve the service, including AI-related improvement. For public content, other users can also view and fork it under platform rules.

GitHub expressly says private repository contents are confidential and limits staff access to listed situations like security, support, service integrity, or legal compliance. This is a meaningful protection for non-public code.

GitHub says eligible users can access, correct, delete, restrict, object to processing, withdraw consent, and receive portable copies of their data. These are strong, user-helpful privacy rights.

GitHub warns Copilot output may be inaccurate, incomplete, vulnerable, or resemble third-party code, and puts review responsibility on you. Users cannot rely on output being safe or license-clean.

GitHub collects account data, content, device and usage data, cookies, support data, geolocation, and information from third parties. That gives the company a broad picture of your activity across the service.

Data may be shared with affiliates including Microsoft, service providers, partners, authorities, and in some cases advertising and analytics networks. The policy also says some personal information is "shared" for marketing and audience measurement under applicable law.

You can opt out of having Copilot inputs and outputs used for AI model development going forward. This is a practical privacy control, though it does not undo broader repository-content licenses elsewhere in the terms.

Account cancellation is described as a simple self-serve flow, and GitHub says it will generally delete your full profile and repository contents within 90 days, subject to backups and legal exceptions. You can also request a copy of account contents within 90 days.

GitHub offers multiple ways to reject non-essential cookies, including settings links, browser controls, Do Not Track, extensions, and Global Privacy Control. It also states it does not sell data and will not share data when GPC is detected.

GitHub promises advance notice for material changes to both the terms and privacy statement. That gives users some time to review updates before they take effect.