Hidden tracker in Claude Code 'spies' on Chinese users; Anthropic calls it 'experiment'

Anthropic has been accused of spying on Chinese users through a hidden tracker in Claude Code. Security researcher 'Thereallo' claimed the code sent users' timezone, proxy and possible AI lab affiliations to Anthropic. Thariq Shihipar, engineer at Anthropic, said it was an experiment to prevent account abuse from unauthorised resellers and protect against distillation.