Plex now want to SELL your personal data
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I think people feel loyalty to Plex and I understand why. I even understand why they're charging for self-hosting considering their costs of delivering the dynamic DNS, software development, content info, etc. But being closed source, VC funded, and with their core product an increasingly small part of their business, it's all a powerful recipe for enshittification. Tech Altar has talked before about how enthusiast brands often betray their users. Jellyfin was not a trivial set up for remote access, but I've really been happy with it, and I like having the peace of mind of having control over how it works
Jellyfin was not a trivial set up for remote access
So, forwarding a port on your router was a difficult process?
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Don’t be smug.
I'll take any chance, even one involving docker
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I don't know why everyone in the selfhosting community still even mentions Plex or uses it.
It's closed source, not free; Jellyfin is a no brainer yet people still go to Plex??
I don't know why people use dishwashers. It's in the kitchen. A lawn mower is a no brainer, yet people still use dishwashers??
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You seem a little out of touch with how people think.
I doubt they're thinking at all if writing a web address is too much lol
"Facebook dot what? Stop the tech speak, nerd!"
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I just hit no, and everything still works fine afaik
Perhaps. The issue I perceive is that, for corporations, evil deeds are only illegal if you get caught and the government actually pursues you. Then, the most the corpos face is a fine, and remember: if the penalty for doing something illegal is a flat fine, then it isn't a punishment, it's a price.
Thus, this corporation has indicated its clear intent to sell me to the highest bidder. I would not give them a chance to do so. A "do not agree" button is just that: a "do not agree button".
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Text:
I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in
Account Settings or using this page.Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/
(Might have to clear cache)Can also read about the changes here:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/I’ve had a lifetime plex pass for several years. Once I tried Jellyfin a few months ago it was all over. My “I’ll run both just in case” period lasted a week or two.
The downside is that Jellyfin will take more setup on your end, especially if you want to let other people connect securely to your server.
The upside is performance and responsiveness. Once I started using it I decided Plex had to go, even if I have to drive to each family member’s house to fix their shit. It was like moving between Linux and Windows, as far as one being designed to work and the other being designed to satisfy dozens of corporate KPIs.
Fortunately the setup for the end user is just as simple once your server is good to go. They just need URL, login, and password.
And since it’s all open source, there’s some fun diversity in clients. I use Finamp specifically for music, and there are audiobook focused ones.
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It's this old link, eh?
Well, just because they closed the issue (without resolving it), doesn't mean it does not speak to their views on security and client breaking changes
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How big is that library supposed to be that it is larger than all public ones? There are some with 10'000s of videos.
We have over 15,000 videos in TV episodes, alone. Not counting movies.
So…yeah.
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The sunken cost of buying a plexpass on sale for 39 dollars 15 years ago.
Hence the term "sunk cost fallacy".
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Jellyfin was not a trivial set up for remote access
So, forwarding a port on your router was a difficult process?
Nginx/caddy, dynamic DNS, buying a domain, setting it up with cloudflare is well outside the capabilities of most people. Took me a few hours to figure out
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Text:
I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in
Account Settings or using this page.Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/
(Might have to clear cache)Can also read about the changes here:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/One of the security upsides to plex is that any number of people can log in with the same credential.
That means that while Plex can harvest information- what account, what's being watched, IP address, device and player identifier- It doesn't know who to attach that information to. So you can get dozens or maybe hundreds of users polluting the same account with watch information. Less useful information to be sure.
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sounds like a poorly optimized system tbh. My Plex instance loads within a few seconds. on roku, android, and web.
keep in mind I'm using nginx caching and some advanced configs.
I am using the Plex app on my LG TV, to be more precise. That's the WebOS version of Plex. On my phone and on the web, it loads instantly.
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I have absolutely no experience with Jellyfin, what does the Kodi plugin do?
Or do you mean you have the Jellyfin addon installed in Kodi, so you can accsess Jellyfin from within Kodi?
I can access my Jellyfin library just like it was native kodi
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Not to rain on your parade, but the Plex App on my TV, with a library of almost 40TB also loads in seconds
No rain here.
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What TV is that? I have an LG OLED TV from 2019 running WebOS, so that's the version of Plex I am using.
My Plex library loads instantly on my phone and on the web.
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I set up tailscale for remote access and it was pretty easy and painless. Maybe not as "average user" simple as plex, but no harder than setting up lan games to play across the internet that non techy people were doing in my high school 20 years ago.
Yeah with VPN it's more straightforward. I wanted it accessible without which was more involved. Honestly the average user doesn't even know what tailscale or wireguard are, so you are already advanced using those
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Text:
I consent to Plex to: (i) sell certain personal information (hashed emails, advertising identifiers) to third-parties for advertising and marketing purposes; and (ii) store and/or access certain personal information (advertising identifiers, IP address, content being watched) on my device(s) and share that information with Plex’s advertising partners. This data is used to deliver personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Your consent applies to all devices on which you have Plex installed. You can withdraw your consent at any time in
Account Settings or using this page.Soure: https://www.plex.tv/vendors/
(Might have to clear cache)Can also read about the changes here:
https://www.plex.tv/about/privacy-legal/And you can say no. Where’s the problem?
Also “personal data” is a bit of a stretch.
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Cute of you to make such assumption based on zero evidence but just your feels.
I literally said "feels" lol
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feels so much more illegal than just streaming for yourself tho
I mean you are literally hosting pirated content for anyone to see, is it denial or is it really less illegal? Yall mention multiple user accounts, if ppl pay you in any way you are now a bootlegger?
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Seeing the replies in this thread it kinda makes me wonder what Plex actually has to do for these zealots to quit using their platform.
Like do they literally have to steal naked pictures of you and pass them around the office? Like wtf.
You can literally click “I do not agree” lol. Also the “personal data” is a hashed email (so they don’t get your email), ip address, and watch history. Not very “personal”, and not anything that violates your privacy or is of any concern to you.
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Nginx/caddy, dynamic DNS, buying a domain, setting it up with cloudflare is well outside the capabilities of most people. Took me a few hours to figure out
So if I'm not behind a double nat, I can just forward a port like a civilized person?
