@progravix said:
There goes that theory. But the official answer is it was sent to a “completely random mix of users”.
Yeah… the root cause was not nearly as exciting as the theory! 
We’re knee-deep in a post-mortem to learn from this and hope we don’t cause any more panic.
Seriously, I didn’t receive the email and I’m going to add a WTF to the pile.
I feel for everyone who got that email, because I hate that ■■■■.
Sending those “We haven’t seen you for a while” emails is only one of two things:
1\ spam
2\ old-school (ie: not 21st century digital) marketing practices
Plex - just don’t. Ok? What the shiny marketing analysis wont be measuring is the volume of idle users who get those emails who subsequently hold a more negative opinion of Plex - because they’ll just delete the email and vow never to consider Plex again (ie: zero feedback - you wont be able to distinguish between people pissed off by it and emails that never reached the target).
Because I’m pretty sure you don’t want people doing this:
@Elijah_Baley said:
But as for the actual subject matter: If you don’t like it then ignore it. If you REALLY don’t like it then stop using Plex and block all Plex emails.
If people block your emails and then you need to notify them about something important (like, oh I don’t know, another data breach) the message wont get through. If people stop using Plex you actually end up with the opposite outcome.
The pitchforks could have been avoided by simply not being like every other dumb marketing program out there.
Check your email people, they sent out a new one explaining!
The arrival of this email was a surprise, but just a reminder that usage metrics were being observed. However, the reason for the lack of use of Plex as a media player is simply that the computer resources to do so are discouraging.
For instance, a video file played with a native media player on my computer will use about 4% of the CPU; however, playing the same file through PLEX will use between 71% and 85% of the CPU.
While the resource demand on the CPU is of minimal consequence in itself, what is the issue is the noise of the tiny cooling fan atop the CPU. With the CPU starting to red-line, the fan runs at top speed causing enough noise to drown out the sound of the media.
Now, if I had a large desktop computer with a water cooled CPU and GPU, and a large bladed slow quiet fan to do the cooling, then this wouldn’t be an issue, I have a laptop class computer, so I generally try to keep CPU activity to under 70% to avoid the noise.
The media transcoder for PLEX is not anywhere near as efficient as the native player, so it only get used when I am in another building, which doesn’t happen very often. Even in another room, the CPU is heard and is distracting from the viewing experience, as I noticed a few weeks ago.
So, for me, while PLEX is a great concept, the efficiency of the PLEX transcoder limits its use.
@OleJFevang said:
Check your email people, they sent out a new one explaining!
That one doesn’t help for those of us who unsubscribed from this last one.
Ha… well, I thought it was very odd as well… Glad to hear I’m not the only one who messes stuff up once in a while! LOVE MY PLEX!! Thanks for the follow up and mea culpa!! 
@kinoCharlino said:
@progravix said:
There goes that theory. But the official answer is it was sent to a “completely random mix of users”.Yeah… the root cause was not nearly as exciting as the theory!
You’ve noticed that we’re living in a strange time where :
So yes, you and others, have to be very careful at what you do and what you say. Sad times but that’s the reality.
This is just an accident by admin over at Plex. They have issues an apology letter citing so. I have 5TB worth of data flowing in plex and watch it nightly as well as share my media with friends and they watch it all the time. Common sense states that it was a mistake, All the paranoid people out there also don’t worry Plex is not handing over your torrented database anytime soon.
@notsoconceited@gmail.com said:
This is just an accident by admin over at Plex. They have issues an apology letter citing so. I have 5TB worth of data flowing in plex and watch it nightly as well as share my media with friends and they watch it all the time. Common sense states that it was a mistake, All the paranoid people out there also don’t worry Plex is not handing over your torrented database anytime soon.
Worse things could happen : if they’d track activity, location, someone could retrace and anticipe mouvements. Social engineering works like that.
Wow! Of all the Plex friends I have I’d be considered a Super Power User. I couldn’t live without Plex.
Not sure what kind of data you are looking at, but you should tweak it cause it’s completely wrong.
Should I be worried? I’m a paying user…
I got it as well, they probably know what you had for breakfast in the morning as well as what you are watching lol
Me 2, but just got the apology email. No worries.
yeah absolutely an apology makes it all okay and makes it all better, there there! I’m not happy at all to think big bro is watching err …what I’m watching but i bet the peeps running the premium iptv plex servers taking subs and ripping folk etc are shitting themselves!! as well as their subscribers!! knock knock!! hope yall got good vpn services with no logs policy, is this the beginning of the end??? kodi under the spotlight of late now plex it seems so they turning over usage habbits trying to cooperate and be transparent mmm… 
I’m not particularly upset over the email mistake, but I do have to agree with the “just don’t” sentiment. Plex may have reason to track certain aspects of my activity, but if my activity falls off, it’s really none of their business, and I would not appreciate getting “We haven’t seen you around” emails. I get them from Facebook, and they are irritating.
It’s the first time I turn off “Send anonymous usage data to Plex.” Although I know that email was some sort of mistake, my gut tells me Plex doesn’t track anonymously no more and I should stop feeding them any more data.
I agree with most people here. Please “just don’t.”
edit:ps… yes i did untick “send anonymous usage” bla bla from the very start and I still got the email???
@beckfield said:
I’m not particularly upset over the email mistake, but I do have to agree with the “just don’t” sentiment. Plex may have reason to track certain aspects of my activity, but if my activity falls off, it’s really none of their business, and I would not appreciate getting “We haven’t seen you around” emails. I get them from Facebook, and they are irritating.
Reread the explanation again, not related to Plex Cloud - comment deleted.
