GitHub opts all CLI users into telemetry collection whether they want it or not

Users of GitHub's command-line interface (CLI) who value privacy, beware. The Microsoft-owned code-hosting platform has quietly begun collecting pseudonymous client-side telemetry from CLI users and enabled it by default. There was no standalone blog post or announcement of the change, just an update to GitHub's CLI …

[Anonymous Coward]

Just dump GitHub

When someone shoves a knife in your back, you don't ask them if they knew that was pointy and to please not do that again.

Walk.

The beatings will continue until morale worsens enough for people to stand up for themselves.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Just dump GitHub

... beatings will continue until ...

Think so?

Seriously doubt it.

Stupid is as stupid does. *

And there's no cure for that, not even experience.

Own or shared.

Proof abounds.

* Forrest Gump, 1994

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Just dump GitHub

Yeah, I do.

This stuff continues because it isn't brand toxic and most users won't revolt over it.

What Big Tech cares about is consequences, and not enough users care about privacy or consent for Big Tech to suffer appreciable consequences over a breach of privacy and trust like this.

How many users are actually willing to put their foot down and say, "this is unacceptable" or "I don't trust your software because I don't have the time to scan each new release for hidden, nasty anti-features"?

[Paul Hovnanian]

Statistics

Are they collecting any on how many projects are moving to SourceForge?

[Tom Chiverton 1]

"no solid list of data points that might be included"

Well, that's illegal in the EU for a start then.

[Pete Sdev]

Re: "no solid list of data points that might be included"

Opt-out rather than opt-in of collecting of personal data* isn't lawful in the EU either so far as I know (IANAL).

[*] In some European jurisdictions, IP addresses are also considered personal info

[SVD_NL]

Re: "no solid list of data points that might be included"

(IANAL, but i need to assess GDPR stuff on a regular basis)

It's allowed under certain provisions, Legitimate Interest being a horribly abused example of that. They theoretically need to provide you their legal basis if requested, but good luck with that. And if they do, i wish you even more luck with disputing them!

That being said, i think they're really threading the needle here, you'd at least expect that information in the privacy policy, and if someone does decide to make a ruckus, they could very well be in trouble. Also, data subject requests exist, and are a very easy way to see what's being collected, and also an easy way to report companies to a watchdog.

[Doctor Syntax]

Altogether now: "It's soneome else's computer and .... " You know how it goes.

[Dan 55]

"beginning with the v2.91.0 release today..."

What do you mean, no notice? We were debating internally if we could get away with "beginning with the v2.90.0 release a month ago" so count yourself lucky.

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine still using GitHub in 2026

Actually, given it's usual uptime, imagining is typically the only way you can use it anymore.

[frankyunderwood123]

easy to imagine using it…

… if the organisation you work for uses it.

Hundreds of private repos , extensive use of github actions, makes it very hard to move away from.

[Anonymous Coward]

Imagine being so smug you need to hide your identity

could you contemplate getting over yourself for a second?

[Groo The Wanderer - A Canuck]

I use Github for an offsite repository service that is likely to survive if my computer goes belly up in a fire or something and my backup media goes up with it in the fire. I don't use any Github "services", including CLI, copilot, build flows, etc. The less you use the less they have to snoop on; they can read through my website for build instructions like everyone else. It isn't hard... but its a work in progress, so sometimes the build is broken for a day or few.

I enjoy working on my "pet project." It's been a hobby for about 30 years now since first inception. Never did like patents, so I never applied for any on the algorithms and data structures I use for probing data as fast as possible; I think patents are a bad solution for the general problem of greed, because far too often nowadays it is the greedy who weild patent portfolios like weapons. Even if I had patented it, the patent would have expired five years ago (25 years to do something with it is all you get under standard patents.)

But imagine: No users complaining. No meetings to attend. No artificial deadlines to meet. No marketing team selling capabilities that don't exist and telling the customer they can have it by "month end."

It is the ultimate project work environment. Happy retirement to me! :)

[Eric 9001]

Please stop working against humanity by using github

Instead please host your repo on any of the reasonable git hosts like codeberg, or another forejo instance, where it will remain for at least the next few weeks after all your storage fails (github is now far more likely to go down or go bankrupt before you can retrieve the repo).

Considering that the project is not shackled by any of github's chains, it'll take all of 5 minutes to make the account, make the repo, edit git remote and `git push`.

Math, like a algorithm or a data structure (that realistically, you weren't the first to implement) is not a patentable subject (though of course patent offices will approve anything nowadays - even a patent on the wheel).

Patents can only be wielded for extortion purposes by big business - if all you have is one patent and you want a big business to stop competing - the big business will tell you that they have at least "this patent, and this patent and that patent" that applies to what you do and say "why don't we cross-license?" and the business gets another patent and all you get is permission to "use" such patents.

[Richard 12]

Re: Please stop working against humanity by using github

Why would OP want to increase the running costs of those useful services, when they can burn some minute fraction of Microsoft’s money instead?

I keep my throwaway stuff on Github.

[Eric 9001]

Re: Please stop working against humanity by using github

A few MiB of extra data doesn't meaningfully increase the running costs of the useful services.

It costs microsoft next to nothing to host a few MiB of data and they gain more benefit from it than the costs, as everything on github has been, or will get shoved into a LLM for later use against humanity.

Even storing throwaway programs on github is harmful, as even throwaway programs contain correct syntax that could be practically useful.

If you want to burn microsoft's money, you'll need to upload at least 100GiB of slop.

[Groo The Wanderer - A Canuck]

Re: Please stop working against humanity by using github

I'm not working on a toy project. Code count as of today, and I'm far from done.... and this is only the count for version 3.1. The project build tree consumes 2GB of disk between source, .class files, and .jars...

TOTAL LINES: 4347903

[David 132]

Re: Please stop working against humanity by using github

> TOTAL LINES: 4347903

Yeah, but 4347800 of those are REM statements, right? :)

[Eric 9001]

Re: Please stop working against humanity by using github

I didn't claim you were - my point was that github shouldn't be used even for toy projects.

I am less concerned now that I'm aware that it's a Java program (after all, no Java program has ever been good) - 2GB of enterprise Java is acceptable punishment for a LLM.

[Bebu sa Ware]

github cli v. git cli

I had forgotten github had its own cli (which is now instrumented.)

The git client update 2.54 was also release a few days ago so I was wondering when and how Microslop had contaminated the git client development — it hadn't.

I keep some random rubbish on github mostly because I am too lazy to run my own git service or copy repos between machine - easier to git push shit; git clone shit from the great GH cesspit.

[Eric 9001]

Re: github cli v. git cli

Please stop going out of your way to ensure that humanity loses by using the difficult to use github.

Instead please be lazy and consider using an acceptable git host like codeberg or another forejo instance.

[ChoHag]

Re: github cli v. git cli

Please stop going out of your way to interject your unwanted opinion into other people's business.

[Eric 9001]

Re: github cli v. git cli

I wouldn't have a problem with github if it only hurt its used (which would be none of my business).

But github is commonly enough used to have a negative impact on humanity as a whole.

Too bad for the weak willed - I will continue posting my white-hot and more importantly, correct opinions.

[Leosghost]

Re: github cli v. git cli

Eadon..is that you ?

[Eric 9001]

Re: github cli v. git cli

Who is Eadon?

[sarusa]

Well what did you expect?

If you're still using github you don't give a shit and don't care if they sell all your personal info to Pooty Poot or Scam Altman. The writing has been on the wall here for at least five years and you deserve everything you get.

I know, I know, people keep saying 'BUT THE CHILLUN!' - but this is the hellscape of 202x. There is absolutely nobody looking out for your welfare, no room to cry about 'oh boo hoo how could I have possibly known?' Nobody gives a fig about you in 202x, you are livestock to be turned into carne asada. A non hellhole society would care and regulate this. But this is not us. The billionaires have won. And you've had ample warning for five years.

So you know what's super easy? Just move all your github stuff over to gitlab. I did it in one night, while sozzled. 20+ projects. Then the next day I took another look, said 'yeah, this is ace', and deleted all my github stuff. That easy.

If you're still using github you're still trusting Rupert Murdoch has your best interests at heart.

[Conor Stewart]

Seems to be a bit of a contradiction

>"If you want to see exactly what would be sent without actually sending it, you can enable logging," the help page reads before providing a sample of what might be in there. The sample payload includes an agent field, architecture, device ID, OS, flags, command name, invocation ID, and other metadata. Actual telemetry payloads, GitHub noted, may differ considerably.

So you can see what exactly would be sent by enabling logging but actual telemetry payloads may differ considerably? So really the sample payload is false and misleading and likely just meant to make people think it isn't that bad?

[[e-mail]]

Let Microsoft be Microsoft!

I have a modest proposal. Why doesn't Microsoft sell a "classic version with no AI" of all their software for a bit more money than the AI offering. Let's face it, this is a total Microsoft move, so why not go for it guys. You can still go on ruining the environment with AI products that nobody wants AND make a little money on the side. And let's face it, no one wants to buy you AI offering so why not just to the MS thing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Let Microsoft be Microsoft!

Because management believes that sucking every bit of data and insight out of the plebs makes the plebs obsolete and replaceable.

Just imagine how high stock prices can climb if a worker-free customer pays big bucks to a worker-free AI provider...at least until Skynet decides that executives (and their bonuses) are just as unnecessary as the employees they gleefully replaced.

"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Winston Churchill