_"Your media is getting dusty. No worries, you can still play on a ton of devices!
Where’d you go?
Hi progravix, you’ve done an great job getting your Plex Media Server up and running and adding your media. Nice job.
We noticed you haven’t been playing a lot of media lately. No worries, we just wanted to remind you how easy it is to enjoy your content on a ton of devices, anywhere."_
I’ve got to assume that Plex can see what kind of activity I have within the Plex ecosystem, but for them to actually come out and say it. Kinda creepy.
Also strange, is that I have had Plex for years, and watch media on it every single day.
Agreed, the message was very strange and gave me a moment of pause… is Plex tracking my viewing habits, and what are they doing with this information? Pretty creepy.
(1) It is not true.
(2) I never consented to monitoring my viewing habits on my home servers, either locally or remotely.
If the email is accurate that they are monitoring our usage, they need to cut it out. If it’s not accurate, they need to apologize and re-write their advertising copy.
I came here to report this as well. I’m not really bothered by them tracking usage and until I start hearing otherwise I trust/assume by the time our data gets to them it’s anonymized enough to not be worrisome. What does bother me, like @progravix mentioned, is that my library(s) get accessed on a daily basis and yet this notification still got sent out.
The only thing I could find that might be related is my devices list has some old/disconnected servers. Maybe it’s not seeing traffic from those systems and is flagging based on that?
I was a recipient of this email as well.
I’ll admit to being confused with the email because I or someone in my house uses my media on almost a daily basis.
I just got the same e-mail. This is really beyond any acceptance.
You noticed I haven’t been playing recently? Who exactly is we? Who and what gives you right to track my playing habits?
I don’t know what is worse. The fact that you are doing it or admitting it in open.
“You have received this email because you’re a valued Plex customer” Really? So value that you are tracking our habits? I’ve disabled sending anonymous usage to Plex, WHO CARES? You have more than I was aware of. Disgrace.
Hi all,
First : don’t get mad its a statement about a little frustration that occurred regarding this time ago.
You know its funny “we” (being some users) some long time ago complained about the Terms of Services once and about the tracking (ooh its in there Privacy Policy | Plex) and the connection to the plex.tv servers you called us dumb, paranoia, stupid and hey dont like it go use something else (which is find always an annoying reply because we take the time to complain or make a remark to have the devs listen to us and not to go use something else).
I usually hate to say “i told you so” but this is one.
Anyways i do admit also that without all that data plex couldn’t refine their tools as i am happy with plex just regret the data-collection.
As to @g3blv read the tos link i posted its very clear and no you cant opt-out except firewalling the entire server but…then you run into other problems @"Bartlomiej Baraniec’ they have every right see the TOS. (and dont yell at me am just a messenger)
I do wonder one thing : does plex track exactly per user account what we watch or is it anonimyzed ? (just a curiosity)
And last disclaimer : i am happy with plex. @plex42 i think its probably an error if you ever had another server, or a reinstall or whatever leaving a ghost server in their db ?
And to everyone read the privacy-policy its very detailed and revealing to those who didn’t know but a very normal one in this day and age, and seems plex does do a serious effort to protect the data (as long they don’t get acquired). Plex is not a standalone server (common mistake) but its a server+app+plex systems.
Anyways plex please give our plex server true ai too, i would love that (seriously), can oyu imagine I come home plex talks to me and says i think your mood today is good for this movie…
Peace to all and no flaming.
Just so my original post is clear, I’m aware of the ToS. I know Plex collects mostly anonymous data. But to be reminded about it in such a creepy way, that’s odd. Plus, while the ToS makes it clear that they collect data, there is no mention of frequency, or keeping track of when I watch, or how often I watch. How often I watch is not a useful data source.
@progravix i just reread the entire tos. Assume they track everything, how many times, what, where (location data), and so on (as in everything thats traceable, but usable for dev and customizing and marketing, will be tracked, that’s the nice thing of using allot the word ‘we may’ its lawyer talk for we will). And assume it is not all anonymous (else they couldn’t provide tailored services as mentioned).
And how often you watch and what is very useful information actually : popularity of using plex, popularity of what shows you like, encoding you mostly use etc…
The TOS explicitly lets them track totally everything, they jsut may just liek they said we MAY use your email-address when you sign up (which clearly proves my point , you cant signup without email lol, _we may _is lawyer talk for we will)
And no you didn’t read the entire TOS then :
“We may use the collected information to provide, customize, and personalize marketing, advertising, and other content that we deliver to you.”
Again dont shoot at me please…
Anyways its a clean clear TOS just like facebook or AWS or any online service we interact with aka “We track”.
Honestly (beside the bug of those that still were using plex) i found it a cute marketing-thing. (just an opinion).
Agreed, I received the same thing and Plex is utilized every day in our house. Granted, there are movies/shows that have not been watched since they were put on the server but like others have said, why does plex care and educating me about ways to watch wouldn’t increase my usage or make me watch something I haven’t watched in months. I don’t get it and it’s creepy like others have said. I know the CIA can tap into my web cam and watch me belly dance but they don’t send me an email and tell me not to quit my day job because I’ll never make a dime belly dancing.
I’ll keep my firearm holstered, but don’t imply that I didn’t read the ToS.
The point of my original post is that it was creepy. Something went wrong (obviously) that triggered this being sent out. I use Plex every day, so obviously this email didn’t apply to me, but it was sent to me.
Them asking, “Where’d you go?” or saying “We noticed you haven’t been playing a lot of media lately” is creepy. This question has no direct impact on services provided by Plex. They are asking what I am doing if I am not using Plex. Sure, it’s rhetorical, but should they be sending out an email telling me they are watching. This is just an odd, creepy thing to do. Most other companies do not do this.
I have a Plex Lifetime Subscription - so no monthly or annual monies from me. Is there a chance Plex will have some 3rd party offering in the further, and they want to keep me invested in their ecosystem to sell me on that offering? Sure. But just don’t be so creepy about it. That’s all.
Can you imagine getting an email from Kohler:
"Are you feeling okay? Constipated? Don’t worry, you can still poop on a ton of toilets!
If you didn’t go poop at home, where’d you go?
Hi progravix, you’ve done an great job getting your Kohler toilet installed and running and adding your poop, and flushing. Nice job.
We noticed you haven’t been pooping a lot lately. No worries, we just wanted to remind you how easy it is to enjoy your poop on a ton of toilets, anywhere."
Yes, this is an obviously over-dramatic retelling, but that’s how the email made me feel.
Plex has always been very clear that they do not track what we watch. There are a few instances (Watch Later, for example), but what is streaming from the server to the client is not tracked. To say they would use what we watch to indicate the “popularity of what shows you like” is not done. Every indication from Plex is that they do not track what we watch, so there would be no way to offer anything based on our watching habits.
When, or how often, sure. Just don’t send me an email about it. Again, creepy.
So, never mind the fact that the email is wrong (we all use it all the time) and that the TOS says it’s ok — which btw is still kind of crappy. It would be nice if they clearly outlined the data they’re capturing. Frankly it smacks of the influence of larger companies they’ve partnered with, but I won’t go all tinfoil hat just yet.
The reality is that, regardless of what or if information is being collected the email that was sent out was poorly worded, creepy, alarming and, simeply put, bad marketing. Whoever thought this was a good idea needs to be publically answering some difficult questions about why they decided to do this, and in the wake of it, what info specifically they do track and how it’s used. Moreover, Plex co should really tighten up the quality control on their marketing and communications because someone has clearly been promoted beyond their abilities.
@"Bartlomiej Baraniec’ they have every right see the TOS. (and dont yell at me am just a messenger)