Hi folks!
First post here in the forum, and today I need your technical background information, or someone from PLEX can give it to me as I could not find something related on the internet. I am using Emby, but want to give PLEX a chance.
For the mobile applications: I have a PLEX server running which is not connected to the internet. Now I do connect with an iOS or Android client and play a video. Are now data sent to PLEX as suggested in the Plex Privacy Policy like general library or titel information from the client? OR is the client only a dump media player? There is no Plex-Pass yet.
I have a Plex Server running on FreeBSD (latest version) and I do not have a “Privacy”-tab. Is this normal? I have read a lot about this tab in the forums.
How does th media scanning works in general? There are scans which finds out if I have for example Star Trek: Beyond in my library. Afterwars the Plex server connects to whatever service and ask for metadata, posters and so on. To which services does Plex connect? something like IMDB? Or is there a detour before?
#Question 1
According to the Plex privacy pages, plex clients share information about the playback. most is technical data like codecs, resolution, device type, error messages, so the typical stuff to help with bugfixing – however don’t take my word but check out the link, they’re quite precise as for what information they go for. there’s also optional playback data where you can opt out (opt-out explained on the same homepage)
Question 2
They’ve changed something regarding their privacy policies and settings in September 2017. as part of that, the “privacy” tab was consolidated (see link above)
Question 3
In Plex terminology, scanning is the process where the server attempts to identify your file (based on the naming conventions described in the Media Preparation support pages) – this is relatively flexible for movies, can be pretty strict for tv shows. with those scanned information, Plex will look for metadata for this show/movie according to the defined agent (usually you set 1 agent per library, this is e.g. The Movie Database or The TVDB). Under Settings > Server > Agents you can configure what sources will be used. With Plex Pass, there’s a more powerful agent which will also lookup information from e.g. Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB etc. – this agent can be configured according to your preferences (such as use ratings from IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes, get Actors pics from The Movie Database or IMDB…); for music this includes concert information or lyrics. There’s also a set of custom agents for certain purposes – never really looked into those, so I’m a poor advocate for those. #Question 4
not an expert on that matter… according to the Plex Blog this should be supported since… pretty much from the beginning – however, never used/tested this myself, so you might want to look for some more educated information
@tom80H said: #Question 1
According to the Plex privacy pages, plex clients share information about the playback. most is technical data like codecs, resolution, device type, error messages, so the typical stuff to help with bugfixing – however don’t take my word but check out the link, they’re quite precise as for what information they go for. there’s also optional playback data where you can opt out (opt-out explained on the same homepage)
Question 2
They’ve changed something regarding their privacy policies and settings in September 2017. as part of that, the “privacy” tab was consolidated (see link above)
Question 3
In Plex terminology, scanning is the process where the server attempts to identify your file (based on the naming conventions described in the Media Preparation support pages) – this is relatively flexible for movies, can be pretty strict for tv shows. with those scanned information, Plex will look for metadata for this show/movie according to the defined agent (usually you set 1 agent per library, this is e.g. The Movie Database or The TVDB). Under Settings > Server > Agents you can configure what sources will be used. With Plex Pass, there’s a more powerful agent which will also lookup information from e.g. Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB etc. – this agent can be configured according to your preferences (such as use ratings from IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes, get Actors pics from The Movie Database or IMDB…); for music this includes concert information or lyrics. There’s also a set of custom agents for certain purposes – never really looked into those, so I’m a poor advocate for those. #Question 4
not an expert on that matter… according to the Plex Blog this should be supported since… pretty much from the beginning – however, never used/tested this myself, so you might want to look for some more educated information
Hi tom80H,
thank you for this quick answer and the detailled information including the links!
1)
So that means, that not only the server collect data and send them to Plex (anonymous), the clients will also do when I read this correctly.
2)
Okey I see, so this “privacy” tab was consoplidated to all the other tabs I assume.
3)
Thank you for that. So the scnners, which are software parts from TVDB for example are only conencting to their services, and has nothing to do with Plex itself.
4)
Ok sounds good, I will have a deeper look at this.
the scanner is part of your Plex Server, analyzing file names; the agent is also a part of your Plex Server (technically it’s the adapter between a generic Plex process and those online databases / web services; I believe the show theme songs are loaded from an online database of Plex themselves (not a 3rd party)
So if the scanner determines that a file represents a movie called “The Movie” which is released in 2017, it’ll send this query to the online database (incl. the language of metadata you’re looking for as specified in your library settings). The web APIs of those online databases are usually documented/available on their homepages (e.g. The Movie Database API).
Keep in mind that part of the Plex Ecosystem is their own online service. Authentication when accessing your Plex server or activating a client goes via plex.tv. The more features you use, the more likely it is there’s additional Plex online services involved.
Where they talk about Plex services, it’s services provided by Plex and not some 3rd party (those tend to be listed as “3rd party” in such descriptions.
Not really sure what you’re aiming for or worried about… makes it hard to address your actual question/point.
the scanner is part of your Plex Server, analyzing file names; the agent is also a part of your Plex Server (technically it’s the adapter between a generic Plex process and those online databases / web services; I believe the show theme songs are loaded from an online database of Plex themselves (not a 3rd party)
So if the scanner determines that a file represents a movie called “The Movie” which is released in 2017, it’ll send this query to the online database (incl. the language of metadata you’re looking for as specified in your library settings). The web APIs of those online databases are usually documented/available on their homepages (e.g. The Movie Database API).
Keep in mind that part of the Plex Ecosystem is their own online service. Authentication when accessing your Plex server or activating a client goes via plex.tv. The more features you use, the more likely it is there’s additional Plex online services involved.
Where they talk about Plex services, it’s services provided by Plex and not some 3rd party (those tend to be listed as “3rd party” in such descriptions.
Not really sure what you’re aiming for or worried about… makes it hard to address your actual question/point.
Hi tom80H,
thank you for answering my questions. This is helping a lot.
I came from the point that data is todays most common “thing” to generate money and to get a detailled overview of who you are, what you like to do and so on. Key word is privacy here. Yes I do now what this means and that more privacy comes often with less features or usability. As I wrote I came from Emby, who are respecting peoples privacy. I know Plex make the step back as they changed their privacy policy and I understand why they are collecting data and I am happy about them to be so detailled. But before I use a service for some years I need to make sure I understand everything which would or can make me wake up at night.
The point why am writing this. I want to use Plex also for family photos, I don’t use Cloud Providers for some good reasons and have my stuff at home. I do never ever want to have someone else access, or information in any perspective of my personal stuff. This included like metadata, that I was on holiday in Spain for example (which was tagged in a photo). It’s just my private stuff.
But good application are rare to find which would belong to the needs I would have for that apllication. I would even don’t midn to pay onetime to buy that software. But Plex seems to be the best way to accomblish that - with respect to my privacy, I would make the necessary changes to make htat possible. Like modifing Windows 10, to “shut up”.
Hopefully this point can be understood. I know what I am talking about, as I am working in a IT area where this matters.
you can look into "running Plex without internet access – there’s several posts in this forum.
this will limit some of the functionality but you can restrict it from talking home.
I see where you’re coming from… partly sharing your concerns and probably won’t ever upload private pictures. If you want to go very private, you might want to look into a stuff like Synology’s Video Station – they also lookup metadata from IMDB/The Movie Database etc. but their product is the NAS, while the software is a tool to promote the hardware.
With the majority of the public being after “free” services, providers have to look into how to finance their services (it’s only getting ugly where you pay for the app/service but your data is still being sold. At some point you need to decide for yourself where to draw the line and where to go along.
I’m using Plex for 2 years and so far no focused ads telling me that the next movie of a franchise I have in my library is available for pre-order
Hi @tom80H
thank you!
I will have a look on the related topic here in the forum.
@tom80H said:
I see where you’re coming from… partly sharing your concerns and probably won’t ever upload private pictures. If you want to go very private, you might want to look into a stuff like Synology’s Video Station – they also lookup metadata from IMDB/The Movie Database etc. but their product is the NAS, while the software is a tool to promote the hardware.
Yes I have seen DS Video Station, but haven’t had a look into this as I do not have a NAS from Synology. But things can change^^
@tom80H said:
With the majority of the public being after “free” services, providers have to look into how to finance their services (it’s only getting ugly where you pay for the app/service but your data is still being sold. At some point you need to decide for yourself where to draw the line and where to go along.
I think this is monstly the hardest decision. More most people this is just the best and right piece of software for their needs, and indeed, it’s great. And I do fully understand the providers who has to pay the salary for good and hard working employees, and money has to come from somewhere. And as I said, paying for a great piece of software is not an issue, when it fulfill the needs.
@tom80H said:
I’m using Plex for 2 years and so far no focused ads telling me that the next movie of a franchise I have in my library is available for pre-order
Good to hear
At the end of the day, I will read some more about Plex and all the related stuff, and may also look into the Synology NAS.
