As much as I really like Plex and depend on its features for my personal library, I don’t want to share more data than is necessary. It’s not a criticism of Plex, but I’ve changed these privacy settings, and you should too.
6Go Incognito With Your Profile Privacy Settings
I don’t care for the idea of people being able to see what I’m watching on Plex, not out of shame but because of the principles of the matter. I also don’t want my friends' usernames exposed when someone sees my friends list, either. You can tweak these settings to be completely private:
The only option that can’t be private isAccount Visibility,so the next best option isFriends Only. Make sure to save, and you’re off to being a little more private.
How to Use Plex as a Hub for Your Streaming Services
As if Plex wasn’t already great, you can use it as a hub for your favorite streaming services, too.
5Unsubscribe to Those Pesky Marketing Emails
When you’re done with your email preferences, complete the process by selectingUpdate Preferencesat the bottom.
4Prevent Plex From Selling Personal Data
While you may use Plex strictly for accessing your media library, it also has ad-supported content you can stream. It’s a nice way to expand on your options if your library is lacking, though there arecheap ways to expand your Plex library. However, it’s an avenue for more data collection, so let’s put a stop to that:
Now, this will prevent Plex from selling and sharing certain information, but it won’t remove the ads, even if you opt for the Plex Pass.
How I Set Up Plex for My Family (Without Getting IT Support Calls Every Night)
These small changes to your Plex configuration will save you hours of irritating tech support.
3Disable Plex’s Collection of Playback Data
Having data on your playback performance can be used to improve Plex, but give a company an inch and they’ll take a mile. I’d rather disable it for good, just to be thorough.
UncheckSend playback data to Plexand you’re golden. I’d give the page a refresh to double-check the new changes stuck.
2Opt Out of Plex’s Free Content
Since you can’t at all avoid the ads given to you by Plex, you can avoid the free content altogether; in fact, you can disable it from your homepage entirely and avoid the risk of accidentally watching Plex’s streaming library.
Plex Is Raising Its Lifetime Pass Price—but You Can Get It Cheap if You Move Fast
This deal won’t last for long!
Whether from the Plex app or from a browser, openSettingsand chooseOnline Media Sources. UnderLIVE TVandMOVIES & SHOWS, clickEditand set them toDisabled. Now the only content you’ll see is what’s in your Plex library. Perhaps now is the time toturn Plex into a streaming hub!
1Request That Plex Deletes Your Data
Even if you were to use all these tips to boost your privacy on Plex, it doesn’t help the data that’s already been collected. While you can’t do anything about it, if you were to stop using Plex altogether, you can have your data deleted on the way out. Please note that this action will permanently delete your account and all associated content.
Should you keep Plex around, and you get curious, you can also send access and transfer requests to see what kind of data of yours has been collected.
In my book, fewer services collecting, sending, and selling my data is a win. I may like what Plex offers in terms of features, but like most businesses, there’s no reason to horde my data like a dragon hoarding gold.
