Plex launched its “Discover Together” feature last month which lets users share ratings, watchlists, watch history, and comments with each other. However, some users were shocked to find out just how much is being shared.
Many Plex users weren’t a fan of the feature’s Week in Review email which revealed their friends’ x-rated viewing habits, according to 404media. Plex users flocked to the app’s forums decrying the “massive breach of privacy and trust.”
In its forum, Plex said “Discover Together” is opt-in and users can customize their desired privacy settings. While this is true, and it’s the user’s responsibility to read instead of just clicking through prompts, the language Plex uses on the privacy settings page is a bit misleading.
During the feature’s onboarding process, Plex says the user’s settings are private by default, but directly underneath this, it shows all the settings already set to Friends Only. If a user clicks “Finish” without changing anything, the settings are no longer set to private.
“This is, by definition, not ‘Opt In,’” one Plex user argued in the forums. “If my settings were private at the time this page is viewed, then the choices presented on the page should have shown the settings as ‘Private,’ and I would have to actively change the setting to ‘Friends Only.’”
Plex said it was looking into this.
“Based on the feedback here in the forums, this screen could be improved. We are reviewing this screen internally and will be making some changes to ensure this is more clear in a future release,” Plex said in a forum post.
It’s unclear when the changes will go into effect, but in the meantime, Plex outlines how to edit your profile – including your privacy settings – on its support page.
Image credit: Plex