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Disable Visual Studio Code data collection

Overview​

About this category

This category contains privacy scripts for Linux.

These changes use Linux system commands to update your settings.

Visual Studio Code, also commonly referred to as VS Code, is a source-code editor made by Microsoft 1.

Visual Studio Code makes outgoing network requests to collect data in the background without users invoking a feature that requires online access 2. The requests include, but are not limited to, automatic extension update checks, querying settings for A/B experiments, and fetching online data for auto-completion 2.

In addition, Visual Studio Code collects and transmits telemetry data to Microsoft servers, such as 3:

  • Diagnostic information about your system and usage is sent to Microsoft servers 3.
  • Your usage data and data about feature performance 3.
Caution: Mixed Risk Levels

Be careful running these scripts. This category includes scripts with high impact:

  • 🔴 Some not recommended scripts. They should only be used by advanced users. They may break important functionality.
  • 🟡 Some recommended scripts only if you understand its implications. Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this this category.
  • 🟢 Some safely recommended scripts. Safe-to use for any user.
Implementation Details

  • Language: bash

  • Scripts Count: 15 scripts

  • Subcategories: 2

  • Required Privileges: Root/sudo access

  • Compatibility: Linux only

  • Reversibility: All changes can be reverted

Apply now​

These scripts are written using Bash (Shell script) scripting language.

Choose one of two ways to apply:

  1. Automatically via privacy.sexy: The easiest and safest option.
  2. Manually by downloading: Requires downloading a file.

Alternative 1. Apply with Privacy.sexy​

privacy.sexy is free and open-source application that lets securely apply this action easily.

Open privacy.sexy

It allows selectively choose parts of this action to conduct. You can fully restore this action (revert back to the original behavior) using the application. Additionally, you can apply only the recommended scripts, instead of applying all of the scripts.

privacy.sexy instructions
  1. Open or download the desktop application
  2. Search for the category name: Disable Visual Studio Code data collection.
  3. Check the category by clicking on the checkbox of the category.
  4. Click on Run button at the bottom of the page.

Alternative 2. Download​

You can choose to apply only scripts with less impact or also those with higher impact:

Standard

Recommended for all users. It helps to improve privacy without affecting stability.

Scroll

Strict

Recommended if you understand its implications. It may cause some non-critical features to no longer function correctly.

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All

Not recommended for daily use as it breaks important functionality. It provides military-grade privacy, for special use-cases. Do not run it without having backups and system snapshots.

Scroll

Consider restarting your computer for all changes to take affect.

Reversible

This action is completely reversible, you can restore your changes to the initial/default state. The restore/revert methods provided here can help you fix issues.

If something goes wrong, use the Revert script provided above.

Standard​

This script includes only Standard recommendation level.

Safe for General Use

Standard scripts in this category is recommended for all users. They help to improve privacy without affecting stability.

Download only standard scripts by clicking on the button:

Download script

Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:

Download restore script

Strict​

This script includes Standard and Strict recommendation levels.

Use with Caution

This script is only recommended if you understand their implications of every single change. Some non-critical or features may no longer function correctly after running this script.

Download Strict scripts:

Download script

Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:

Download restore script

All​

This script includes Standard, Strict recommendation levels along with unrecommended scripts.

Not Advised

This script should only be used by advanced users. Some of these changes are NOT recommended for daily use as it breaks important functionality. Do not run it without having backups and system snapshots.

Download all scripts:

Download script

Restore these changes if you decide to revert them by downloading the restore script:

Download restore script

Explore further​

This category includes total of 15 scripts and 2 subcategories.

Explore its 9 subscripts and 2 subcategories:

Disable Visual Studio Code telemetry

The "telemetry.telemetryLevel" preference can be adjusted as follows: "default" (on): Transmits usage data, errors, and crash reports. • "error": Transmits general error telemetry and crash reports. • "crash": Transmits OS-level crash reports. • "off": Disables all product telemetry. This script disables telemetry data, which includes usage data, errors, and crash reports. The "telemetry.enableTelemetry" was the primary option to disable telemetry collection. This disabled the collection of diag...

Disable Visual Studio Code automatic updates in favor of manual updates

By default, VS Code is configured to automatically update when new versions are released. Automatic updates reduce your control over privacy by sending data to Microsoft servers. On Linux, updates are often handled by the system package manager, rendering this setting redundant. To opt out of auto-updates, the Update: Mode ("update.mode") setting is changed from default to none. "update.mode" has replaced the older "update.channel" setting. · Issue #70084 · microsoft/vscode · GitHub | github.com

Disable automatic fetching of remote repositories in Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) periodically fetches changes from remote repositories. This feature lets VS Code display how many changes your local repository is ahead or behind the remote. This script disables the automatic fetching, providing you more control over when you communicate with remote servers. Note that this feature shares data not with Microsoft, but with the servers hosting the remote repositories you're working with. As of VS Code 1.19, this feature is disabled by default, althoug...

Disable sending search queries to Microsoft in Visual Studio Code

By default, Visual Studio Code sends setting search queries to Microsoft servers. This is part of the natural language search mode, which is powered by a Microsoft online service. You can disable this feature by setting "enableNaturalLanguageSettingsSearch" to "false". For more information, see [Settings search | Feature announcement](https://web.archive.org/web/20221029223417/https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-docs/blob/8f6d43a3b24d8661f25f93d5e679c3e6ee1191b6/release-notes/v1_20.md#settings-s...

Explore Categories​

This action belongs to Configure programs category. These scripts configure third-party applications installed on Linux distributions to harden their security and privacy to protect your data. They scripts differ from OS level configurations as they configure applications that are not typically native to Linux distributions, i.e., not included in... Read more on category page ▶

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