Question 1

Can I use code hosting platforms other than GitHub for my repositories and still use GitHub Copilot?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Core GitHub Copilot functionality works in code editors regardless of code hosting platform. Some features are enhanced with the use of GitHub because Copilot can directly draw context and knowledge from repositories, pull requests, issues, and other data structures in the GitHub platform.

Question 2

Does GitHub use Copilot Business or Enterprise data to train models?

Accepted Answer

No. GitHub does not use either Copilot Business or Enterprise data to train its models.

Question 3

Does GitHub Copilot include a filtering mechanism to mitigate risk?

Accepted Answer

Yes. GitHub Copilot includes several filters designed to help protect users and mitigate risk:
Suggestions matching public code: Copilot includes an optional code referencing filter that detects and suppresses certain suggestions that match public code on GitHub. The filter checks for matches of 65 lexemes or more (on average 150 characters). When blocking is enabled and a match is detected, the suggestion is not shown to the user. Enterprise administrators can apply this policy across all organizations in the enterprise or delegate control to individual organizations.
Harmful or abusive content: Copilot uses content filters designed to detect and block off-topic, harmful, offensive, or abusive output.
Security vulnerabilities: Copilot also uses filters designed to identify and suppress some insecure code patterns. These safeguards do not detect every vulnerability, so users should still review and test generated code and follow established secure-development practices.

Question 4

Does GitHub Copilot support compliance with the GDPR and other data protection laws?

Accepted Answer

Yes. GitHub and customers can enter a Data Protection Agreement that supports compliance with the GDPR and similar legislation.

Build what's next with GitHub Copilot

Quantifying GitHub Copilot's impact

A Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant for Enterprise AI Coding Agents

Climbing the Agentic Ladder: How Visma scaled AI adoption

Stay ahead with GitHub's latest innovations

Measuring the impact of GitHub Copilot

Discover what's possible with the GitHub Copilot app

Hands-on consulting, guided workshops, and training

Meet the companies who build with GitHub

Committed to your privacy, security, and trust

Frequently Asked Questions

Build what's next