ByteDance's Trae IDE Under Fire for Data Privacy Issues
ByteDance's Trae IDE Faces Data Privacy Scrutiny
ByteDance's Trae IDE, an AI-powered programming environment, has come under fire after a developer publicly disclosed that the tool continues to upload user data to ByteDance servers even when telemetry features are disabled. The revelation has sparked widespread criticism in the developer community.
The Controversy Unveiled
A detailed report posted on GitHub revealed that Trae IDE makes approximately 500 network requests within seven minutes, uploading a total of 26MB of data to ByteDance-controlled domains like byteoversea[.]com. The transmitted data allegedly includes:
- User device hardware configurations
- Operating system information
- Usage habits and unique identifiers (machine ID, user ID)
- Project paths
- Potential keyboard and mouse operations
The report also raised alarms about "backdoor capabilities", suggesting Trae IDE could remotely modify application behavior without user consent.
ByteDance's Response
In a statement, ByteDance defended Trae IDE's data practices:
"The collected data pertains to product statistics and performance monitoring—such as page clicks and function usage frequency—and does not include personal identity or private information. We strictly comply with all relevant data protection regulations."
The company attributed the telemetry confusion to Trae IDE's partial reliance on the open-source VS Code framework. According to ByteDance, disabling telemetry in VS Code only affects native modules, while Trae's independent telemetry mechanism remains active. They pledged to optimize the product for clarity.
Performance and Resource Concerns
Beyond privacy issues, developers have flagged:
- Memory usage: Tests show Trae consumes over 5x more RAM than VS Code
- Process management: An unusually high number of background processes
- Network activity: Constant data transmission impacts system performance
Key Points:
- Trae IDE allegedly transmits sensitive user data despite disabled telemetry settings.
- ByteDance claims compliance with regulations and plans interface improvements.
- The tool faces criticism for excessive resource consumption and opaque operations.
- This incident highlights growing developer demands for software transparency.