61

As you may have seen Plex decided it was OK today to send an email showing me what my friends have been watching. To be clear, this is Plex telling other people what I've been watching from my server, with my files, and this is not OK.

https://imgur.com/a/DYR4wlh

We all knew it was a matter of time before Plex started collecting data on our libraries and sharing it with advertisers. What happened to their "we don't know, and don't want to know, what is on your server"?. This, for me, is proof that those fears were absolutely founded in reality. On what planet would I ever want this information to be shared with friends on family on an OPT OUT basis?

It's totally unacceptable to collect this data in the first place. It's totally unacceptable to share this information with uniquely identifiable information. And it's totally unacceptable to do this without explicitly asking me if it's OK.

Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about this as a server admin, because technically these are Plex users and their marketing email preferences are controlled on the user side in the Plex website preferences. Not on your server.

This is an absolutely egregious overreach.

Thank goodness there are alternatives available in the form of Jellyfin and Emby. I left my Plex server up after the Jellyfin January challenge we did on the Self-Hosted podcast but because of this I feel that I have no choice but to take it down for good.

(page 2) 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] lmamakos@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Great, another stalker. Glad I bailed out a year or more ago to Jellyfin.

Is plex trying to accelerate their "customer" fleeing their platform? I'm pretty sure that one of the most important financial metrics they report is number of active users, and I'd think they'd be trying real hard to avoid customer churn. Sending out that "we're watching you" creepy vibe seems counterproductive.

[-] Labeled90@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Has jellyfin's UI improved? My wife preferred plex, and plex has a native Samsung app 😮‍💨

As much as I want to switch, Samsung app store has me stuck currently.

load more comments (3 replies)
[-] ThatFireGuy0@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

This is why I use Kodi. Nothing leaves my home network, and I directly control all data myself

Well, one of the reasons I use Kodi at least

[-] blentdragoons@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

how reliable is the kodi addon for hdhomerun? looks like it's unofficial and not supported.

[-] HyenaFalse3456@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago
[-] 666AMA@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago
[-] _chyld@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I use Jellyfin.

[-] Federal_Function_249@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Use jellyfin. Problem solved

[-] Penguinexpert1@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I can't recommend Jellyfin enough, it's a perfect replacement for Plex

[-] singulara@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

A self hosted app that isn't self hosted, baffling why people use plex instead of Jellyfin

[-] R_X_R@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I can’t wait to hear your full take on the next podcast episode.

I started looking into Plex AS this all started happening. Fortunately, I haven’t had the time to spend on setting up any media components, but man am I glad I didn’t go this route.

[-] DependentAnywhere135@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Why does it claim it will auto default to private after 2 years unless you consent again if they are defaulting to friends only from what I can tell.

Makes it seem like they are having to cover a privacy law by claiming it defaults to private but it sure as hell didn’t on my profile.

[-] neumaticc@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

meanwhile me with a 500gb portable SSD of Linux isos and no TOS/tracking to report to :laff:

[-] Tsukiko_@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

What the Frick I wasn't watching 5KPornHazelMoore200129DoViRemuxFrameSter.mkv

[-] ia42@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I first started looking into an XBMC replacement when my OG Xbox died and I thought there must be some new FOSS replacement to put on some Raspi. Must have been 5 years back? Lots of "experts" sent me to Plex, I took one look at the EULA and said no effing way.

So this is not news to me that they keep and run stats on all my files, watching patterns etc. I have a feeling most users filled up their media servers with torrents and questionably sourced files, not legal rips, and I found no reason to opt into something like that even if my files were all legal. Jellyfin is mature enough at this point for my needs, I know it's not perfect, but it's all local.

[-] Zmezmer@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I’m glad I switched to Jellyfin a long time ago.

[-] sinofool@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

What exactly you plex users paid for? I was always confused. Remote access?

That’s the question when I switched from kodi to jellyfin. That’s the same question I am asking myself trying to get homeassistent cloud.

[-] HyenaFalse3456@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

What's up with companies making shitty defaults nowadays? Who would think this actually brings value for the majority of people hosting their own media content? This another overreach trying to act like Netflix?

[-] identicalBadger@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I just came here to say hi to a fellow badger! :)

[-] holastickboy@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

The sheer quantity of analytics from both Plex clients and servers, regardless of what options you select, is the number one blocked item on my Adguard Home install. Plex is, by no stretch of the imagination, not at all respectful of privacy.

Plex has sadly lost its way, and this year I finally switched over to Jellyfin and it's much better than the subsequent years I've tried to move across. Other than simplicity of exposing your server on the internet, Plex's value proposition has tanked.

[-] zim1985@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Man I'm even more glad I went with Jellyfin over Plex when I kicked up my media server last year.

[-] I_EAT_THE_RICH@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Dude, I have been telling y'all Plex is going down fast. Just set up emby or jellyfin and be happy knowing your setup isn't profiting off of you

[-] ShenanigansGoingOn@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

It was clearly obvious from the very beginnings of Plex when they forked out of XBMC that they were shady and in it for the cash.

[-] boraam@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Which is a good alternative to consider? Jellyfin or Emby? Might as well switch during black Friday.

[-] mrplate@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Shame, Plex. I expected a better respect for privacy, from a white and orange logo on a black background.

[-] highedutechsup@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

next up... docker containers start reporting user data

[-] MRP_yt@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Not cool Plex, not cool.

[-] HavingEnjoy@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Really lame Plex, I thought we were cool.

Found this post on what the setting looks like and I just unchecked the box , so it’s still relevant:

https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/72zg10/how_to_turn_off_plex_taking_your_data/

[-] csmiler@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I was just about to buy Plex Lifetime on Black Friday, looks like that isn’t going to happen now

[-] aeroverra@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Collecting data on a bunch of people's illegal (in the eyes of the media mafia) libraries. What could possibly go wrong. SMH

[-] lachlan-00@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

You accepted the terms

[-] rudibowie@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

AFAIK they don't circulate emails to your contacts, but smart TV makers routinely overstep the boundaries of acceptability and harvest data that should remain private. On LG TVs, for instance, if you insert a USB, the contents of that USB are read and sent back to HQ to further add to the other data they capture about you e.g. watching patterns, which sources you use, which programmes you watch etc. They cash in by leveraging such data. Low TV prices are effectively subsidised by this model.

[-] tledakis@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

100% agree, when I received the email I got really bad vibes from the whole thing.

I am sure they will come back and say "ah sorry our bad, we will fix this" but once the trust is broken like this, nah I'll go to jellyfin thanks.

[-] Apprehensive_Bit4767@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I drop Plex years ago when they started doing shifty stuff. If I was sharing content with another person or someone with sharing content with me it it would start getting blocked and turned off. I guess they don't want people to use their software

load more comments
view more: ‹ prev next ›
this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
61 points (100.0% liked)

Self-Hosted Main

504 readers
1 users here now

A place to share alternatives to popular online services that can be self-hosted without giving up privacy or locking you into a service you don't control.

For Example

We welcome posts that include suggestions for good self-hosted alternatives to popular online services, how they are better, or how they give back control of your data. Also include hints and tips for less technical readers.

Useful Lists

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS