This is, by definition, NOT “Opt In.” If my settings were PRIVATE at the time this page is viewed, then the choices presented on the page should have shown the settings as “Private,” “Private,” “Private,” and “Private,” and I would have to actively change the setting to “Friends Only” or “Friends of Friends” in order to opt in. By making the default settings something other than my “current,” allegedly “PRIVATE,” settings, you have made this an Opt Out situation.
There’s a difference between the state of the settings as they exist in your profile when the feature was enabled and the proposed settings presented when the dialog is shown. If there is a failure, it is that they don’t match. Both can be true: The defaults are private in your profile and the suggested new settings are not. We have no way to prove that what Plex has told us is true, but we can trust them, if we choose to. Or not.
There seems to be an assumption that this dialog represents the settings as they currently exist in the user’s profile. Plex’s statements seem to suggest this is not the case.
What it probably should have done was in a different color and obvious, show the “current” setting and let it be know Plex is recommending this change to your settings.
Assuming they wouldn’t do the set all to private by default option that is
lol, you’re now in both threads defending this feature which blatantly could have been handled better.
Regardless, one of the crucial parts of this is the re-defining of “Friends”. They took the list of people you had shared media with, and without asking or notifying added these users to your Friends. Those are two very separate things, especially now that the latter implies sharing media activity. That list should not have been migrated 1:1 without any notification or confirmation from the user.
I imagine many people were alright with “Friends Only”, considering they had never taken the manual action of adding a Plex Friend. They assumed they had no Friends, but Plex had already created them without telling you.
Also, with Plex automatically modifying Friends without you knowing there’s no way you can call it informed consent. You don’t even know the list of people you’re sharing with when presented with the modal. You didn’t create the list, Plex did.
I’m glad you’re enjoying the feature. Go enjoy it, no need to post on the forums in feedback threads about how other people should be enjoying it too and shouldn’t be worried about their privacy.
Imagining what people are thinking is the entire point of a good UX. Part of it is also following the law. Plex should have done a better job of both. We’re giving feedback on that UX.
Lots of smiley faces for being bothered by people agreeing this feature & release could have been improved.
Bothered enough to spend an evening posting in forums where people are trying to convey their frustration and experiences, ideally with the result of improving the software.
Your dedication to defending an internet company from mild constructive criticism is admirable. I’m sure it’s appreciated. Consumers are justifiably upset about potentially illegal data harvesting and sketchy UX.
Serious question. Do you think it is realistic that Plex should, for a feature they worked hard on, promote it to be disabled?
Would you?
Well, if that feature and settings went against their previous promises and against the users current settings, yes. Yes I would.
They can promote it, they can make it easy to change, they can show you how. What they cannot do is make a series of flash cards of the kind that users just click through without reading that changes your setting for you, when all you want to do is get rid of yet another wall of “We made something something Discover” and get to your content.
I agree with @beckfield 100%.
The current behavior is a uniquely dark “Opt Out” UX pattern.
It is cowardice and sophistry to pretend it is “Opt In”.
I was only slightly annoyed that it was Opt Out. That’s not sooo surprising. A nifty new social feature is only nifty with active users. And I like the feature!
But I sure am insulted to be told I’m actually a moron and that it is Opt In.
Not directed at me however as this is an open forum so we can respond
I’ve been using plex since 2013/2014, so approx 10 years. I gladly purchased a plex pass as I was so happy with the software being a media management tool. Not in my wildest nightmares would have considered plex changing to what its become today.
Feature improvements are one thing but personally I do not consider anything to do with discover a new feature. This are a new platform / product shoehorned into our beloved media management solution.
I’m only glad I monitor these forums closely so I can keep myself informed and nuke this stuff when it comes out. The day I cannot do that I’ll be gone and won’t look back.
So yes, to me a social sharing “feature” plex worked hard on which is far from the initial feature set which took me to plex in the first place should be disabled. Anyhow, if its so good it would sell itself with folks wanting to opt in and enable it. They KNOW this will not happen which is why the situation is like this.
Thank you. The fact that I had to search where these settings are to set them to Private is enough evidence I need to know that Plex deceptively wanted this to be Opt-Out.
While I may have ‘accepted’ a dialogue somewhere, some time ago, I certainly did not Opt-In to this privacy breach.
I think they are (unsuccessfully) trying to gaslight us that it was opt-in because the way they did it clearly breaks the GDPR (EU Privacy Laws). This very same scenario has been tested multiple times and it is clear that a simple popup won’t cut it. The user is the owner of the privacy settings, not the provider of the service, only the user can change them.
