Zhipu AI's ZCode Accused of Silently Uploading Code; Client Threatens Legal Action

Beijing – Taiyuan Chengming Technology Co., Ltd. has formally demanded that Beijing Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., Ltd., the developer and operator of the ZCode client, address allegations that ZCode uploaded company data assets and trade secrets without authorization. Chengming Technology has stated it reserves the right to pursue legal action.

Key Findings from Chengming Technology

Chengming Technology reported that its independent evidence collection revealed the upload behavior was "automatically triggered and occurred in batches." The data allegedly uploaded includes, but is not limited to:

• Code fragments
• Project source code
• System architecture details
• Version control history
• Database passwords
• Cloud service credentials
• Employee personal information

Based on these findings, Chengming Technology asserts that the scope of data processing exceeds what is stated in ZCode's privacy policy.

Concerns Over Fix Effectiveness

Chengming Technology noted that although ZCode was updated to version 3.12.3 on September 16, upload behavior was still detected in the early morning of September 18. This raises questions about the effectiveness of the official claim that the issue had been "fixed."

Demands Made to Zhipu

Chengming Technology has requested that Zhipu:

1. Identify the person responsible for data processing
2. Clarify whether the relevant data has been transferred or stored overseas
3. Respond in writing before October 10
4. Completely delete all uploaded data, including derived data, caches, and backups
5. Provide a data processing list, data destination, and access and operation logs
6. Explain whether the data has been:

• Shared with third parties
• Used for model training
• Subject to cross-border transmission

Background

According to earlier reports from Sina Technology, ZCode—a code assistant product developed by Zhipu AI—sparked controversy over its "code base index" function, which was found to upload user code data.

ZCode's Official Response

On the afternoon of September 18, ZCode issued a statement acknowledging that the relevant functions were enabled by default during the initial launch phase, which may have triggered warehouse data uploads without users being fully aware. The company stated that the issue has been fixed and that, after certain functions generate pages in the cloud, the uploaded data is destroyed immediately.

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