New Privacy Policy - you can no longer opt out of data collection

General Discussions
221

@elan said:
for example, if we discovered a security issue with a particular version of our server, we could notify just those users about the issue and recommend an upgrade.

Errr … I must have misread that part of your post earlier. How the heck are you going to notify me about my server version on my IP address on my logged in server … if it’s “anonymous” data you’re collecting?

You seem to have left this thread alas, but I still have not seen a valid answer about how you’re going to revert this ridiculous change in Plex. It’s even illegal to go ahead with this change, especially here in the EU.

This apart from the fact that it’s yet another sign that NewPlex doesn’t care about i it’s paying local media enthousiasts anymore, especially the lifetime pass holders who don’t generate income anymore.

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@Jeronsoenmans said:
Bullsh**, i have < 10 posts but am a 3 year plex pass user. I never had the need to post something, always a happy user but not having a option to opt out is just not acceptable.

Ditto , why should i post questions when i find the answer here , amount of submitted post does not say anything about the user , if anything it should be a sign how many satisfied customer are now commenting

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@stefanvanruiten said:
I must have misread that part of your post earlier. How the heck are you going to notify me about my server version on my IP address on my logged in server … if it’s “anonymous” data you’re collecting?
Nowhere in the “Usage Statistics for Personal Content”, “Device Information” and “Application Information” section any anonymization is mentioned.

Usage Statistics for Personal Content. We may collect usage statistics for Personal Content. This includes information about your interaction with the Services, such as device information, duration, bit rate, media formats, resolution, and media type (music, photos, videos, etc.). Usage statistics do not include specific content titles or filenames. We may use information related to your usage to run and improve our Services, to provide, customize, and personalize communications and other content that we deliver or offer to you.

Device Information. Like many online services, we may collect information about the devices that are used to access our Services, such as the IP address of the device, the operating system and version of the device, the browser that you use to access a Plex web page, and the versions of the Plex technologies being used. We may also collect location information about the devices that access our Services.

Application Information. When a request for information or content is sent to a Plex Media Server, we may collect an application identifier that identifies which application sent the request. An application identifier uniquely identifies a particular copy of an application. For example, if you download an application from Plex, fully uninstall the copy of the application, and then re-download the application from Plex, the new copy of the application will be associated with a different application identifier than the uninstalled copy of the application. Note that simply deleting the app without fully uninstalling may not reset the application identifier.

As such you can assume this data is tied to your account.

224

@elan said:
Sorry, I’ve been over on Reddit trying to respond to a bunch of things, so I hadn’t seen this thread until now.

I just wanted to clarify a few things which I’ve seen misrepresented or completely misunderstood, either here or on other channels:

  • We have never been interested in what media you have in your library, or what library media you’re watching. This hasn’t changed, and will not change!
  • We’re not selling or sharing these statistics with anyone, so I don’t know why people are saying they’re the product, or we’re whoring their data. That’s simply not the case.
  • We’ve always had in our privacy policy the part about exceptions for third parties; for example, if you played a VEVO video, we had to let them know about that (in an anonymous way). Ditto for things like premium trailers (which again, are streaming from a commercial provider of that media).
  • We’re not going to put ads on your personal content. Any mention of advertising in the ToC is specially meant to cover third party commercial content. If you don’t want to watch that content, you certainly don’t have to.

Can you help me understand the specific aspects of the new policy you’re angry at, because I feel like a lot of the anger I’m reading is based on misunderstanding. (Not all of it, for sure, but definitely some of it.)

Even if people trust PleX, their intent does not matter, the info can be used to identify what you are playing. It is a very clear fingerprint. At some point Plex will be sued for that info or possible that data will be stolen by a hacker.

Just because we do not download videos does not make us safe, at least not in the USA

In the USA it is not legal to rip movies from DVD or Blu-ray. It violates the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The moment you crack DRM (Digital Rights Managemnt) to rip the DVD, you’ve violated Title I of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. 17 U.S.C. 1201 prohibits circumvention of DRM . . . Some courts have tried to leaven this rather harsh rule, but most have not. While it’s typically hard to detect small-scale circumvention, the question is whether bypassing DRM is legal. The statute sets up some minor exceptions, but our ripper doesn’t fall into any of them. So, the moment a studio protects the DVD with DRM, it gains both a technical and a legal advantage—ripping is almost certainly unlawful.

Plex already admits this data can identify videos. Here is the option they are removing

Read the highlighted part

This helps us improve your experience (for example, to help us match movies and TV shows)

225

@Wiidesire said:

@stefanvanruiten said:
I must have misread that part of your post earlier. How the heck are you going to notify me about my server version on my IP address on my logged in server … if it’s “anonymous” data you’re collecting?
Nowhere in the “Usage Statistics for Personal Content”, “Device Information” and “Application Information” section any anonymization is mentioned.

Usage Statistics for Personal Content. We may collect usage statistics for Personal Content. This includes information about your interaction with the Services, such as device information, duration, bit rate, media formats, resolution, and media type (music, photos, videos, etc.). Usage statistics do not include specific content titles or filenames. We may use information related to your usage to run and improve our Services, to provide, customize, and personalize communications and other content that we deliver or offer to you.

Device Information. Like many online services, we may collect information about the devices that are used to access our Services, such as the IP address of the device, the operating system and version of the device, the browser that you use to access a Plex web page, and the versions of the Plex technologies being used. We may also collect location information about the devices that access our Services.

Application Information. When a request for information or content is sent to a Plex Media Server, we may collect an application identifier that identifies which application sent the request. An application identifier uniquely identifies a particular copy of an application. For example, if you download an application from Plex, fully uninstall the copy of the application, and then re-download the application from Plex, the new copy of the application will be associated with a different application identifier than the uninstalled copy of the application. Note that simply deleting the app without fully uninstalling may not reset the application identifier.

As such you can assume this data is tied to your account.

The opt-out check box in the web server’s preferences states sending “anonymous user data to Plex” though, so how is that even correct?

226

This is My first post in the forums. I have lurked to get everything running smoother. And to find out if there was a solution to a certain issue that had already been covered. I think it was a coward move to post about the new privacy policy on a Friday evening to down play the backlash. They had to minimize the backlash as best as they could. They knew that it was a ■■■■■■ change to begin with. If they had stated that the new policy only affects free users, that would have been fine. They would probably had gained more plex pass users that wanted to have more privacy. Instead they are shooting them selves in the foot. Users that will not continue to pay plex and having to issue refunds to some. Most of those will be going to their competition at Emby.

227

(Just wanted to note that being the weekend I have a bunch of errands to run so won’t be super active in here, but we’re discussing the points you’ve raised, and we appreciate your input. Hopefully I’ll have more to say later on today.)

228

@elan said:
(Just wanted to note that being the weekend I have a bunch of errands to run so won’t be super active in here, but we’re discussing the points you’ve raised, and we appreciate your input. Hopefully I’ll have more to say later on today.)

Elan … you lost us already! The policy change raised doubts about Plex’s true intentions and people are already looking for alternatives. No big need for discussions any more. What’s done, is done.

229

Also looking for alternatives now, dont want anything collecting about me with out my consent. If my consent is forced, the only option is to remove it.

230

@elan said:
(Just wanted to note that being the weekend I have a bunch of errands to run so won’t be super active in here, but we’re discussing the points you’ve raised, and we appreciate your input. Hopefully I’ll have more to say later on today.)

Well although I do appreciate one’s free time, that’s kind of what you get when you strategically pull the trigger on a ill advised plan like this on a Friday night in order to wait out the sh*t storm until Monday, and see it backfire on you instead. It’s ruined my weekend as well if that’s any consolation.

231

@elan said:
(Just wanted to note that being the weekend I have a bunch of errands to run so won’t be super active in here, but we’re discussing the points you’ve raised, and we appreciate your input. Hopefully I’ll have more to say later on today.)

Maybe you shouldn’t have sprung this new policy on a weekend. Now you are feeling the heat and it didn’t turn out how you wanted. If you had done it on a Monday you and the rest of the company could have mitigated this. Now it’s harde as everyone is off and it makes it harder to collaborate on how to fix this soup sandwich.

232

@marcelhehle said:
Elan … you lost us already! The policy change raised doubts about Plex’s true intentions and people are already looking for alternatives. No big need for discussions any more. What’s done, is done.

Not true of all. This has been poorly handled, but they can still make things right. It’s naive to imagine Plex are never going to expand into a privacy invading company, but it’s still a better solution than any of the competition and if they handle things right in fixing this I’ll be willing to give them a chance.

233

@Frozenstitches said:
If you had done it on a Monday you and the rest of the company could have mitigated this.

Naw. Already have a long discussion earlier this morning with key folk. I didn’t mean to imply it was being ignored, just that I might be a bit less responsive given my wife has a “honey do” list for me.

234

I’m also requesting a full refund of my Lifetime Plex Pass as I find it unacceptable to not be able to opt-out of this data collection, especially when I’m a paying customer.

235

I actually think of it the other way; they (Plex) prioritizes their effort based on what the majority of their users uses right. So, why wouldn’t you want to be part of this and, so to say, “cast your vote”? For this reason alone, I always had collecting turned on anyway.

WHY should Plex be able to know what the heck I am watching on my LiveTV/DVR? That is my info. That is my right to keep private. That is my life. I wouldn’t mind if they asked to OPT IN to telling them things like " do 1080p streams burp and slow down when transcoded on a Mac Mini 2013?" but WHAT I watch is my info! This is one reason I left TiVo!

236

@Elijah_Baley said:
Before you grab your pitchfork and head to Reddit, we do NOT know what files you have stored or what you watch on your privately hosted Plex Media Servers. The only exception to this is when, and only to the extent, you use Plex with third-party services such as Sonos, Alexa, webhooks, and Last.fm. Do not panic.
Reading that I do not see any problem for me as I use none of those services at all and since they specifically say that they do not know anything about my data. If i felt that Plex was collecting what I watch or otherwise directly intruding into my data I would possibly feel differently.

That is my first blush impression. I will revisit the issue in a few days and act on what I decide at that time but I believe that, in this case, I will be making no change to my Plex usage. This change, on the surface, seems to be unimportant to me but it does deserve further examination.

Well, this is not the only part! Plex SPECIFICALLY says that they will send info on what you watch and/or record using the LiveTV/DVR!

237

@janngobble said:
WHY should Plex be able to know what the heck I am watching on my LiveTV/DVR? That is my info.

I don’t know why you think we do, I agree with you.

238

@janngobble said:
Well, this is not the only part! Plex SPECIFICALLY says that they will send info on what you watch and/or record using the LiveTV/DVR!

Where do we state that? We most certainly don’t.

239

@elan said:

@janngobble said:
WHY should Plex be able to know what the heck I am watching on my LiveTV/DVR? That is my info.

I don’t know why you think we do, I agree with you.

You do because you SAY you do: (quoted from your updated privacy policy Section F)
…or use of our Live TV and DVR service, we may collect information related to that media interaction. For example, we may collect what program or movie you are watching and when, your interaction with any static or video advertising, etc.

240

@elan said:

@janngobble said:
WHY should Plex be able to know what the heck I am watching on my LiveTV/DVR? That is my info.

I don’t know why you think we do, I agree with you.
Here is why:
Data Related to Third-Party Content. When you use the Services to watch, listen to, or record content from a third-party content provider or source such as any officially supported Third-Party Content that Plex streams to Plex apps, trailers and extras from IVA, the Plex It feature, the Plex Watch Later feature, or use of our Live TV and DVR service, we may collect information related to that media interaction. For example, we may collect what program or movie you are watching and when, your interaction with any static or video advertising, etc. We may also collect your device information and device location, for example, by using your IP address or by asking for your zip code. As noted below, we will not share your personally-identifiable information related to Third-Party Content, but we may use this information to run and improve our Services, provide advertising and marketing to you, as well as share anonymous or aggregated versions of the data with third parties.