@elan So here is a question that hasn’t been asked yet to my knowledge, but I think is extremely important.
For server owners who do not upgrade to the new version, will you continue to respect the opt-out in previous versions, or will you utilize the Plex API which remote users access Plex through in order to pull the information you want against the server owners wishes?
@ShadowBlade72 said:
For server owners who do not upgrade to the new version, will you continue to respect the opt-out in previous versions, or will you utilize the Plex API which remote users access Plex through in order to pull the information you want against the server owners wishes?
Or maybe users will have to set privacy settings on the website even if they are still on an old server version? That’s one way to make all this privacy “thing” independent from the server version…
The Privacy Preferences page (https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/privacy-preferences/) seems to have been updated and there is now a checkbox under Optional Playback Data you can uncheck. However, right above it shows only SOME data that you are opting out of. There is still a lot of other metadata listed above that will be collected whether you opt out or not.
@ShadowBlade72 said:
@elan So here is a question that hasn’t been asked yet to my knowledge, but I think is extremely important.For server owners who do not upgrade to the new version, will you continue to respect the opt-out in previous versions, or will you utilize the Plex API which remote users access Plex through in order to pull the information you want against the server owners wishes?
This is an important question. If Plex will collect data from PMS versions prior to 1.9.0 despite a user’s unchecking of data sharing in those versions, that would easily violate privacy laws in many jurisdictions, including several US states and practically all of Europe. It would likely also constitute an unfair and deceptive practice under US federal law. It would be good if Plex assured its users it is not going to violate these rules. If they don’t clarify this by September 26, I might feel compelled to file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
Even if they do adhere to the opt out toggle it wouldn’t be sufficient for the coming EU legislation where a conscious opt in is necessary instead, so they should be improving privacy options instead of watering them down.
Given that they’ve basically said that the opt-out checkbox was misleading given the data they are already collecting, my guess is that it won’t make the slightest bit of difference whether you’re running 1.8.4 or 1.9.1. It sounds like the opt-out will be configurable in the user preferences linked to the plex.tv account, and completely unrelated to the PMS, as clients, will also be collecting data for them.
You’d have thought their lawyers would have taken into consideration the GDPR which comes into force in 2018 (it’s current legislation, just not being enforced) as I think their current policy won’t be compliant.
I’m done with it outside my LAN (signed out with metrics.plex.tv blocked) until I have control over what data is or isn’t collected about my media server (both the server and any connected client devices) and its content.
@adrianwi said:
I’m done with it outside my LAN (signed out with metrics.plex.tv blocked) until I have control over what data is or isn’t collected about my media server (both the server and any connected client devices) and its content.
I think I am as well sadly. I loved Plex up until this point, but these underhanded tactics to avoid a true opt-out is disappointing. I’ve installed Emby and it seems to do everything I need/want. It’s not a pretty as Plex, but it meets all of my core needs.
On the topic of signing out of Plex, I asked on Reddit why we can’t have local accounts. I was told by a Plex employee that “it’s too complex”.
Apparently allowing signed out users the ability to not give everyone full admin access is just beyond their capabilities. Maybe they’ll hire on a programmer or two in the future. /s
@ShadowBlade72 said:
On the topic of signing out of Plex, I asked on Reddit why we can’t have local accounts. I was told by a Plex employee that “it’s too complex”.
It translates to “That way it’s too complex for us to harvest your data”
@marcelhehle said:
@ShadowBlade72 said:
On the topic of signing out of Plex, I asked on Reddit why we can’t have local accounts. I was told by a Plex employee that “it’s too complex”.It translates to “That way it’s too complex for us to harvest your data”
My thoughts exactly. If we’re signed out they aren’t making money off of us, and don’t have access to our data, so they’re going to make it as painful as possible to not be integrated into their “ecosystem”.
This honestly reminds me of when Xbox announced that the Xbox One was going to require internet access so it could check in every so many days or else it wouldn’t allow you to play games. I feel like that’s the road we’re headed down here. All of the core features will soon require an active internet connection to function at all.
Rule of thumb on web v2.0 … if you are not paying for the product, then YOU are the product.
Except in this case, we’ve paid for the product 
Google can do this because they’re pretty much monopoly. Microsoft can do it because they are monopoly. I hope Plex does not think they can pull Windows 10 here …
Might want to go re-check this… With the release of the WB stuff today I decided to go see if there were any new privacy options to opt-out of, and saw that I had been opted back in 
Odd. Mine was not opt’d back in. Was in the “opt-out” mode as I had set it. Probably not a bad idea though to recheck to make sure the setting is as you want it to be.
thank you for report. that definitely should not be.
I asked a few friends I share with to check theirs and their settings had not been changed. It is very possible that I had double clicked the last time I was on the page. Might be a false alarm. I posted before I checked with my other users. Sorry 
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