Still nobody at Plex willing to offer some clarifications here? By this point your silence speaks volumes.
I too would like as much clarification as possible. Really interested in what information is being collected when metadata is being requested, is it really necessary to connect to plex servers to pull this info? What information is being saved after such a request?
I want to believe all is as they say, but their silence doesn’t paint a very good picture. Seem quite SHADY. Or did they abandon this site in favour of reddit?
@hthighway said:
The Plex Client obeys the opt-out rules of the server owner (Admin Account). If the server owner has opted out then any user streaming from that server automatically opts out while streaming from that server (local or remote).
@hthighway said:
I would love to provide you a link to the info but I have not yet found it in the policy.
This was info provided by the Plex Team when I asked the same question
@hthighway said:
@amtukv said:
Also, where is the new privacy tab in the server settings that the CEO has written about https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-policy-changes/. Sorry to repeat if this has already been mentioned somewhere.Thanks.
See this link:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/privacy-preferences/#opd
Thanks but that link has no reference to my questions. The CEO wrote server settings.
- Can you please provide a clarification and ask them to include on the privacy preference page ?
- Also, where is the new privacy tab in the server settings that the CEO has written about https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-policy-changes/. Sorry to repeat if this has already been mentioned somewhere.
@amtukv said:
Thanks but that link has no reference to my questions. The CEO wrote server settings.
- Can you please provide a clarification and ask them to include on the privacy preference page ?
- Also, where is the new privacy tab in the server settings that the CEO has written about https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-policy-changes/. Sorry to repeat if this has already been mentioned somewhere.
Regarding #1, still waiting for a response —
For #2, While the wording does state new tab in server settings or something to that effect, which you and I both took to mean a new tab in Settings -> Server… According to the DEV team we interpreted that line incorrectly and the setting to opt-out is the link I previously referenced
@hthighway said:
@amtukv said:
Thanks but that link has no reference to my questions. The CEO wrote server settings.
- Can you please provide a clarification and ask them to include on the privacy preference page ?
- Also, where is the new privacy tab in the server settings that the CEO has written about https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-policy-changes/. Sorry to repeat if this has already been mentioned somewhere.
Regarding #1, still waiting for a response —
For #2, While the wording does statenew tab in server settingsor something to that effect, which you and I both took to mean a new tab inSettings -> Server… According to the DEV team we interpreted that line incorrectly and the setting toopt-outis the link I previously referenced
And so does opting out of that apply to ALL PEOPLE you share your library with (when it comes to your personal library) or is it just for YOURSELF? This is all I have been trying to find out for weeks now.
“If you opt-out of sending us playback data, we will also stop sending the data described in the Server / Library section above.” makes me think it applies across the board, however I really want some sort of confirmation from someone at plex. If this is the wrong place to ask this question I will ask somewhere else, I just want an answer 
There are a few factors still in play…
If the server owner opts-out and the client being used by any user streaming from that server has been updated to respect the new policy than the opt-out of the server owner will control all data being sent from any client streaming from it (as it pertains to your media)
But, if the client being used has not yet been updated than the client will still need to select opt-out from the client settings, if they exist.
Again, I’m not sure if any of that is in the docs currently.
@hthighway said:
@amtukv said:
Thanks but that link has no reference to my questions. The CEO wrote server settings.
- Can you please provide a clarification and ask them to include on the privacy preference page ?
- Also, where is the new privacy tab in the server settings that the CEO has written about https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-policy-changes/. Sorry to repeat if this has already been mentioned somewhere.
Regarding #1, still waiting for a response —
For #2, While the wording does statenew tab in server settingsor something to that effect, which you and I both took to mean a new tab inSettings -> Server… According to the DEV team we interpreted that line incorrectly and the setting toopt-outis the link I previously referenced
Thanks for following up on #1. I’ll wait for the response on it. Also for eg. those who dont have a server but who use Android Plex App to play local content on their phone and personal videos this setting now indicates you are gathering data on those too, which I seriously hope is not the case.
Regarding #2, I think we know quite clearly what server setting means and I’m surprised how the DEV team can interpret it incorrectly. We all know a person can register, have a plex account but NOT have a server.
And to make it even more clearer this is what the previous para reads “Second, in addition to providing the ability to opt out of crash reporting and marketing communications, we will provide you the ability to opt out of playback statistics for personal content on your Plex Media Server, like duration, bit rate, and resolution in a new privacy setting.: https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-policy-changes/”. So obviously it has to be where the crash reporting setting resides, which is on the PMS setting.
This is in violation from what has been stated by the CEO and the Devs need to fix it OR issue a correction and state it correctly. I’m fine with either course and am sure so will others be.
@hthighway said:
There are a few factors still in play…If the server owner
opts-outand the client being used by any user streaming from that server has been updated to respect the new policy than theopt-outof the server owner will control all data being sent from any client streaming from it (as it pertains toyour media)But, if the client being used has not yet been updated than the client will still need to select
opt-outfrom the client settings, if they exist.Again, I’m not sure if any of that is in the docs currently.
Thank you for the response. Just to clarify to make sure I understand… The sections of the privacy policy that you can opt-out of (Optional Playback Data, Server/Library Data) will NOT be collected by Plex if the check mark in the box on the “Privacy Policy” page is removed. However, if the Client (shared, or personal remote) does not have their app set to not collect data then ALL of the data is still collected, even from those two sections the server owner opted out of?
I guess now that I am thinking about it, my main curiosity is what steps need to be taken to not have that data captured?
Just opting-out on the server side?
Opting out on the server side and in the client apps?
Opting out on the server side, having the other clients log in and go to the privacy page and opt out as well and in apps?
I don’t care at all if certain playback data points are captured, I don’t have anything to hide and I totally understand that those are necessary to optimize a product like this at scale. I just do not want for my entire server and library to be “opened up” to plex in the ways they have things set up currently because of a client doing something wrong.
@gavincalaway said:
Thank you for the response. Just to clarify to make sure I understand… The sections of the privacy policy that you can opt-out of (Optional Playback Data, Server/Library Data) will NOT be collected by Plex if the check mark in the box on the “Privacy Policy” page is removed. However, if the Client (shared, or personal remote) does not have their app set to not collect data then ALL of the data is still collected, even from those two sections the server owner opted out of?
If the client that is being used is running a version of the plex app that has been update to work with the new setting on the privacy policy page, it will follow the setting chosen by the server owner.
I’ve done a bit of research to address your concerns in this thread. I’m not a lawyer, so if you seek specific information from an attorney, please contact legal. Many of your questions boil down to a single clarification:
The opt out preference is tied to the user, not a server, not an individual client device. It used to be the case that if you wanted to opt out of analytics you had to go into the settings of every individual Plex client and server. We believed it was friendlier and better to consolidate this to a single user setting.
In terms of playback usage data, there are potentially two sides to all playback usage: the client where the playback happened, and the server from which the content was played. The client sends events tied to the user that is signed in to the client; the server sends events tied to the user that is signed in to the server. The client only ever identifies itself; the server only ever identifies itself. So, suppose that the server owner has opted out of playback data, and a shared user has not. When that shared user plays something from the server:
- The server will not send any of the playback data, since the server owner has opted out.
- The client will send playback data, since the client user has not opted out. That client playback data does not identify what content was played, does not identify what server the content was played from, does not identify the owner of the server that the content was played from, and follows all of the fuzzing we describe for things like media duration.
Here’s additional clarification:
it’s about if remote users still send metrics about your server when both you and they’ve opted out of metrics gathering.
No, if both the server owner and the shared user have opted out of playback data, then that data will not be sent.
At this point in time I’m going to have to conclude that Plex are deliberately setting up their Pirvacy Policy and data collection in a way to decieve users and collect data that people are trying to avoid collecting, and that there is, in effect, NO opt out if you have remote users.
Not at all.
I live in the UK and would love to know how Plex will handle the new GDPR legislation
We’re definitely aware of GDPR. GDPR is not yet in effect, and like all other companies we’ll be sure to review it and comply before it goes into effect.
If i uncheck that box on the privacy website, and a remote user has not turned off the “Usage Statistics” and “Crash Reports” will the specific Server/Library data still be sent? OR is it set so that when that privacy page on the site is unchecked, no “extra” Server/Library data is collected?
The https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/privacy-preferences/#sld section is about anonymous server stats. That anonymous server information doesn’t have anything to do with shared user usage. It’s sent, anonymously, by the server unless the server owner has opted out.
Really interested in what information is being collected when metadata is being requested, is it really necessary to connect to plex servers to pull this info? What information is being saved after such a request?
Yes, it’s necessary to connect to Plex servers for metadata in the sense that we’re the ones providing the metadata. We may stitch together metadata from a variety of other sources (e.g. imdb, tmdb), but PMS isn’t responsible for contacting N metadata providers individually and stitching that together. We do that on our servers, and PMS requests metadata from Plex servers. Those requests are anonymous and we don’t store anything related to those requests tied to any users. We don’t even include IP addresses in the access logs.
@kinoCharlino said:
I’ve done a bit of research to address your concerns in this thread. I’m not a lawyer, so if you seek specific information from an attorney, please contact legal. Many of your questions boil down to a single clarification:The opt out preference is tied to the user, not a server, not an individual client device. It used to be the case that if you wanted to opt out of analytics you had to go into the settings of every individual Plex client and server. We believed it was friendlier and better to consolidate this to a single user setting.
In terms of playback usage data, there are potentially two sides to all playback usage: the client where the playback happened, and the server from which the content was played. The client sends events tied to the user that is signed in to the client; the server sends events tied to the user that is signed in to the server. The client only ever identifies itself; the server only ever identifies itself. So, suppose that the server owner has opted out of playback data, and a shared user has not. When that shared user plays something from the server:
- The server will not send any of the playback data, since the server owner has opted out.
- The client will send playback data, since the client user has not opted out. That client playback data does not identify what content was played, does not identify what server the content was played from, does not identify the owner of the server that the content was played from, and follows all of the fuzzing we describe for things like media duration.
Here’s additional clarification:
it’s about if remote users still send metrics about your server when both you and they’ve opted out of metrics gathering.
No, if both the server owner and the shared user have opted out of playback data, then that data will not be sent.
At this point in time I’m going to have to conclude that Plex are deliberately setting up their Pirvacy Policy and data collection in a way to decieve users and collect data that people are trying to avoid collecting, and that there is, in effect, NO opt out if you have remote users.
Not at all.
I live in the UK and would love to know how Plex will handle the new GDPR legislation
We’re definitely aware of GDPR. GDPR is not yet in effect, and like all other companies we’ll be sure to review it and comply before it goes into effect.
If i uncheck that box on the privacy website, and a remote user has not turned off the “Usage Statistics” and “Crash Reports” will the specific Server/Library data still be sent? OR is it set so that when that privacy page on the site is unchecked, no “extra” Server/Library data is collected?
The https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/privacy-preferences/#sld section is about anonymous server stats. That anonymous server information doesn’t have anything to do with shared user usage. It’s sent, anonymously, by the server unless the server owner has opted out.
Really interested in what information is being collected when metadata is being requested, is it really necessary to connect to plex servers to pull this info? What information is being saved after such a request?
Yes, it’s necessary to connect to Plex servers for metadata in the sense that we’re the ones providing the metadata. We may stitch together metadata from a variety of other sources (e.g. imdb, tmdb), but PMS isn’t responsible for contacting N metadata providers individually and stitching that together. We do that on our servers, and PMS requests metadata from Plex servers. Those requests are anonymous and we don’t store anything related to those requests tied to any users. We don’t even include IP addresses in the access logs.
Nice clarification.
I knew commenting in this thread was going to backfire on me…
@hthighway said:
I knew commenting in this thread was going to backfire on me…
LOL! Well, at least you tried.
Thank you both @hthighway and @kinoCharlino !! This was the only piece that was not clear to me and the answer sounds totally fine. With so many people freaking out about everything I have just been wanting to hear something specific regarding the server opt-out from someone that actually knows a real answer. I do not know if all concerns would be removed with it, but some more specific verbiage on the site or in the server may help some others remove their foil hats… but I am sure you are all aware of this uproar. Thanks again for spelling it out for me
@kinoCharlino said:
The opt out preference is tied to the user, not a server, not an individual client device. It used to be the case that if you wanted to opt out of analytics you had to go into the settings of every individual Plex client and server. We believed it was friendlier and better to consolidate this to a single user setting.
What about managed users?
Thanks everyone for your feedback, and special thanks to @hthighway for hoping in here to help out!
It was mentioned in this thread that the privacy prefs appeared to be hidden within an “info doc.” We’ve heard that a lot and we’ve already added a link to the policy and the prefs page on the web account settings page. Additionally, we’re working on some updates to the privacy prefs page based on the feedback we’ve received from users in the forums. Thanks again and stay tuned.
@marcelhehle said:
@kinoCharlino said:
The opt out preference is tied to the user, not a server, not an individual client device. It used to be the case that if you wanted to opt out of analytics you had to go into the settings of every individual Plex client and server. We believed it was friendlier and better to consolidate this to a single user setting.
What about managed users?
The setting for managed users inherits from the account owner. We’re going to update the privacy prefs page to be more clear on that, too.
Thanks again for keeping this thread civil. It’s really helped in plucking out feedback and knowledge to apply to our prefs page update. I’m one of the editors on it, so I will work to make sure the clarifications you have requested are present in some form.
@kinoCharlino said:
- The server will not send any of the playback data, since the server owner has opted out.
- The client will send playback data, since the client user has not opted out. That client playback data does not identify what content was played, does not identify what server the content was played from, does not identify the owner of the server that the content was played from, and follows all of the fuzzing we describe for things like media duration.
Thanks for answering! Glad someone at Plex finally offered some clarification. Sad that the CTO was so hugely misleading when this fuss all came to light, and I still intend to cancel my Plex Pass (or rather not renew it) because of this “impossible to opt out of” metrics gathering, but glad it’s not as bad as the privacy policy implies. Would love to see the actual policy updated to clarify this, looking forward to reading the updated page!
@kinoCharlino said:
We’ve heard that a lot and we’ve already added a link to the policy and the prefs page on the web account settings page.
Just want to be sure you’re aware that this is only true for the settings page when navigated to from plex.tv, not from your local server (which is where most server owners will navigate to it from)! Added a lot of confusion for me when trying to locate it 
