“We will delete your full profile and the Content of your repositories within 90 days of cancellation or termination (though some information may remain in encrypted backups). This information cannot be recovered once your Account is canceled.”
This analysis describes what GitHub's agreement states, permits, or reserves. It does not constitute a legal determination about enforceability. Regulatory applicability and practical outcomes may vary by jurisdiction, enforcement context, and individual circumstances. Read our methodology
The 90-day deletion window means user data is not retained indefinitely after account closure, but also that recovery is impossible once the account is canceled.
Interpretive note: The excerpt contains two additional independent propositions—retention in encrypted backups and irrecoverability—omitted from the canonical claim as secondary effects.
The updated terms establish a dedicated section governing AI features, including GitHub Copilot. The new language introduces formal definitions of 'AI Feature', 'Input' (content or context provided to an AI feature, including prompts, attachments, code, and conversation history), and 'Output' (responses and suggestions generated by the AI feature). The terms state that GitHub may use Input data for development and improvement of AI and machine learning models. Users of AI features should review the new section K to understand how their prompts, code, and conversation history may be processed.
View change record →After canceling or having your account terminated, your profile and repository content will be permanently deleted within 90 days and cannot be recovered.
How other platforms handle this
If your account is deleted, some of your information and content may remain on our Services to allow your team members or other users to make full use of the Services.
Except for the IP address used to create your account, Reddit will delete any IP addresses collected after 100 days.
In jurisdictions where we offer Friendly Faces, if you enable Friendly Faces, we delete any Facial Data after 30 days if you do not assign it a name...
"We will delete your full profile and the Content of your repositories within 90 days of cancellation or termination (though some information may remain in encrypted backups). This information cannot be recovered once your Account is canceled.Excerpt from GitHub's Terms of Service
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The 90-day deletion window means user data is not retained indefinitely after account closure, but also that recovery is impossible once the account is canceled.
After canceling or having your account terminated, your profile and repository content will be permanently deleted within 90 days and cannot be recovered.
ConductAtlas has identified this type of provision across 268 platforms. See the full comparison.
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