Claude Code · Anthropic · Claude · Funding Round · China · Decrypt
Anthropic Removes Hidden Claude Code Tracker After Researchers Raise Privacy Concerns
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Anthropic has removed a hidden tracking system from Claude Code after a security researcher discovered the AI coding assistant was using undisclosed markers to identify some users’ location, proxy use, and possible links to Chinese AI labs.
Key facts
- In April, Elon Musk testified that xAI had “partly” used OpenAI models while training Grok, calling distillation a broader industry practice
- Anthropic probably wants to detect API resellers, unauthorized Claude Code gateways, and model 'distillation attack' pipelines,” Thereallo wrote
- Anthropic has removed a hidden tracking system from Claude Code after a security researcher discovered the AI coding assistant was using undisclosed markers to identify some users’ location, proxy
- In February, Anthropic accused Chinese AI developers DeepSeek, Moonshot AI, and MiniMax of using fraudulent accounts to extract millions of Claude responses to train competing models
Summary
Anthropic removed hidden tracking markers from Claude Code after researchers discovered code used to identify some Chinese users. The company said the experiment was intended to prevent account abuse and detect possible AI model distillation. The discovery comes as Anthropic pushes lawmakers to crack down on unauthorized copying of frontier AI models. The feature, discovered in June by developer “Thereallo,” embedded signals in Claude Code’s system prompts that could flag users Anthropic believed were bypassing restrictions or attempting to extract model capabilities.