GitHub · GitHub Privacy Statement

Data Retention After Account Deletion

Medium severity
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Why it matters

Deleting your GitHub account does not guarantee immediate or complete erasure of all your personal data from GitHub's systems.

Consumer impact

GitHub collects a broad range of personal data including your account information, browsing behavior, code contributions, and payment details, which may be shared with Microsoft affiliates, third-party service providers, and disclosed in response to legal requests. Your data may also be used to train AI and machine learning models, including features like GitHub Copilot, which has significant implications for developers who store proprietary or sensitive code on the platform. You can opt out of AI training data use and manage your privacy preferences through your GitHub account settings at https://github.com/settings/privacy.

What you can do

⚠️ These actions may provide transparency or partial mitigation but may not fully address the underlying issue. Effectiveness varies by jurisdiction and individual circumstances.
  • Delete Your Data
    After closing your GitHub account, send a separate email to privacy@github.com explicitly requesting deletion of all retained personal data and asking for confirmation of what data, if any, will be retained and for how long.

Applicable agencies

  • FTC
    The FTC can take action where companies retain consumer data beyond stated purposes or fail to honor deletion requests, constituting an unfair or deceptive practice.
    File a complaint →

Provision details

Document information
Document
GitHub Privacy Statement
Entity
GitHub
Document last updated
March 24, 2026
Tracking information
First tracked
March 20, 2026
Last verified
March 20, 2026
Record ID
CA-P-001349
Document ID
CA-D-00254
Evidence Provenance
Source URL
Wayback Machine
SHA-256
6ffd0bca7ee8ec2746c4351f0452b4941b4e2157175f395ff9607b70d0463c07
Verified
✓ Snapshot stored   ✓ Change verified
How to Cite
ConductAtlas Policy Archive
Entity: GitHub | Document: GitHub Privacy Statement | Record: CA-P-001349
Captured: 2026-03-20 12:20:26 UTC | SHA-256: 6ffd0bca7ee8ec27…
URL: https://conductatlas.com/platform/github/github-privacy-statement/data-retention-after-account-deletion/
Accessed: April 4, 2026
Classification
Severity
Medium
Categories

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