Privacy Policy

Revised: June 28, 2024

PDF of the current version

Prior Versions

 

What’s new in this version

• Updated the formatting to improve readability and ease of finding relevant information based on your relationship with Plex.
• Enhanced the Privacy Rights section to centralize privacy preferences including the ability to opt-out of targeted advertising, set activity sharing preferences, and turn website cookies on/off.
• Added a link to the Privacy Rights section to a new form to submit data access and deletion requests.
• Added explanation of how non-Personal Data is used to train machine learning or artificial intelligence.
• The details on data collected during activities on Services were shifted from the (now deprecated) Privacy Preferences page to this Policy.

 

We care about the privacy and protection of personal data. We strive to be transparent in our data collection practices while providing you with a service that you love and trust. This Privacy Policy sets forth our personal information processing policy which explains how we collect, use, and share personal data about you, and also when and how you can control what we collect and do with it. Our Privacy Policy applies to the data collected through products and services provided by Plex GmbH and its affiliates including Plex, Inc., (together, “Plex”), which include our websites, apps, and all other Plex-branded software and services (collectively, our “Services”). This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on the Plex.tv website. If we make any material changes to the Personal Data that we collect and/or how we use it, we will first obtain your consent before applying any of those changes. You are advised to consult this Privacy Policy regularly for any changes.

• • Your Plex Privacy Rights
  • What Personal Data can Plex collect?
  • What information does Plex collect about my activity on the Services?
  • When does Plex collect Personal Data?
  • Why does Plex need Personal Data?
  • Who does Plex share this Personal Data with?
  • Where does Plex store Personal Data?
  • How does Plex protect Personal Data?
  • Does Plex collect information from children?
  • What about external links and services?
  • More privacy questions?
  • US State-Specific Rights Disclosures
  • What information does Plex collect from my Plex Media Server?
  • What information does Plex either anonymize or aggregate?

 

Your Plex Privacy Rights

 

What Personal Data can Plex collect?

“Personal Data” is information that we collect that: may identify you as an individual; is reasonably associated with you; or is defined as such under applicable laws or regulations. The below lists reflect the data we require to complete the purposes listed later in the Policy (“Why Plex collects it”). Data listed as “optional” is not required and you provide that data (and any other data that we do not require) to us at your discretion.

 

What information does Plex collect about my activity on the Services?

Plex collects specific information about your activity on our Services and that information is linked to you.

 

When does Plex collect Personal Data?

 

Why does Plex need Personal Data?

 

Who does Plex share Personal Data with?

 

Where does Plex store Personal Data?

Plex and its authorized data processors process Personal Data primarily in the United States.

 

How does Plex protect Personal Data?

 

Does Plex collect information from children?

Plex does not knowingly collect, use, or disclose Personal Data from anyone under the age of 13. If we learn or are notified that we have collected the Personal Data of an individual under 13, we will take steps to delete that Personal Data as soon as possible. Plex parents or guardians can create managed user accounts for their children to restrict access to content based on content ratings. Learn more here.

 

What about external links and services?

Plex may offer and you may choose to use products or services from third parties in connection with our Services that may contain links to or otherwise interface with third-party websites, products, services, or other technologies. These include online payment systems operated by third parties (e.g., Braintree) which enable you to make secure online payments. They also include integrations with control and playback mechanisms such as Sonos, Amazon Alexa, IFTTT, Zapier, SmartThings, webhooks, etc. Any such third-party technology may collect information from you or use other services or technologies that collect information from you. Any information collection by these third-party technologies is governed by the privacy practices of those third-party technologies. Plex is not affiliated with, does not control, and is not responsible for the collection of information by such third-party technologies.

 

More privacy questions?

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please submit them on our contact page.

All data access or deletion requests should be submitted here.

 

US state-specific rights disclosures

This section contains disclosures required by the laws in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, and Virginia (“Certain States”).  If you are a resident of such states, this section of the Privacy Policy contains disclosures required by law and explains rights that may be available to you. Our use of the terms “sell” and “share” below generally refers to these California definitions.  

Personal Data That Plex Collects, Discloses, and Shares. 

The below table identifies the categories of Personal Data (“PI” in the table) we have collected in the past 12 months, the source of collection, our purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties to whom we have disclosed and/or shared it. 

Category of PI	Personal and online identifiers (e.g., first and last name, email address (including hashed emails), or unique online identifiers)
Sources of PI	Consumers, authorized third parties services and  social media accounts you connect to Plex, service providers, content providers, advertisers on our Services
Purposes for collecting the PI	Auditing related to our interactions with you; Legal compliance; Provide targeted advertising on our Services; Content delivery and recommendations; Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity; Debugging; Performing services (for us or our service provider) such as account servicing, processing orders and payments, and analytics; Internal research for technological improvement; Internal operations; Activities to maintain and improve our services; and Other one-time uses
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is disclosed	Content providers; service providers and vendors; third parties, such as social networks you connect to Plex and advertising partners; analytics providers; payment processors; and government entities
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is shared	Advertising technology companies and advertisers

 

Category of PI	Payment and billing information
Sources of PI	Consumers, content providers
Purposes for collecting the PI	Billing to provide Plex subscription services; payments to content providers
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is disclosed	Payment processors and service providers
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is shared	None

 

Category of PI	Commercial or transactions information (e.g., records of services purchased, obtained, or considered)
Sources of PI	Consumers, advertisers on our Services, service providers
Purposes for collecting the PI	Auditing related to our interactions with you; Legal compliance; Provide targeted advertising on our Services, Content delivery and recommendations; Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity; Debugging; Performing services (for us or our service provider) such as account servicing, processing orders and payments, and analytics; Internal research for technological improvement; Internal operations; Activities to maintain and improve our services; and Other one-time uses.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is disclosed	Content providers; service providers and vendors; authorized third parties services and  social media accounts you connect to Plex, advertising partners; analytics providers; payment processors; and government entities.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is shared	Advertising technology companies and advertisers

 

Category of PI	Internet or other electronic network activity information (such as interactions with a website, email, application, or advertisement)
Sources of PI	Consumers, advertisers on our Services, third parties and social media you connect to Plex and advertising partners, service providers, and content providers
Purposes for collecting the PI	Auditing related to our interactions with you; Legal compliance; Provide targeted advertising on our Services, Content delivery and recommendations; Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity; Debugging; Performing services (for us or our service provider) such as account servicing, processing orders and payments, and analytics; Internal research for technological improvement; Internal operations; Activities to maintain and improve our services; and Other one-time uses.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is disclosed	Content providers; service providers and vendors; third parties, such as social networks you connect to Plex and advertising partners; analytics providers; payment processors; and government entities.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is shared	Advertising technology companies and advertisers

 

Category of PI	Geolocation information (such as ZIP code)
Sources of PI	Consumers, service providers
Purposes for collecting the PI	Auditing related to our interactions with you; Legal compliance; Provide targeted advertising on our Services; Content delivery and recommendations; Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity; Debugging; Performing services (for us or our service provider) such as account servicing, processing orders and payments, and analytics; Internal research for technological improvement; Internal operations; Activities to maintain and improve our services; and Other one-time uses.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is disclosed	Content providers; service providers and vendors; third parties, such as social networks you connect to Plex and advertising partners; analytics providers; payment processors; and government entities.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is shared	Advertising technology companies and advertisers.

 

Category of PI	Inferences drawn from the above information about your predicted characteristics and preferences
Sources of PI	Consumers, service providers, and content providers
Purposes for collecting the PI	Auditing related to our interactions with you; Legal compliance; Provide targeted advertising on our Services; Content delivery and recommendations; Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity; Debugging; Performing services (for us or our service provider) such as account servicing, processing orders and payments, and analytics; Internal research for technological improvement; Internal operations; Activities to maintain and improve our services; and Other one-time uses.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is disclosed	Content providers; service providers and vendors; third parties, such as social networks you connect to Plex and advertising partners; analytics providers; payment processors; and government entities.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is shared	None

 

Category of PI	Other information about you that is linked to the personal information above (such as metadata about content you view, timestamps to allow playback, and data related to third party content)
Sources of PI	Consumers, service providers, third parties and social media you connect to Plex, content providers, and advertisers on our Services
Purposes for collecting the PI	Auditing related to our interactions with you; Legal compliance; Provide targeted advertising on our Services; Content delivery and recommendations; Detecting and protecting against security incidents, fraud, and illegal activity; Debugging; Performing services (for us or our service provider) such as account servicing, processing orders and payments, and analytics; Internal research for technological improvement; Internal operations; Activities to maintain and improve our services; and Other one-time uses.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is disclosed	Content providers; service providers and vendors; third parties, such as social networks you connect to Plex and advertising partners; analytics providers; payment processors; and government entities.
Categories of third parties to whom the PI is shared	Advertising technology companies and advertisers.

 

Personal Data Retention.  Plex will retain each category of Personal Data in accordance with applicable laws and as reasonably necessary for our processing purposes set forth under this Privacy Policy.  

Your Rights Regarding Personal Data. Residents of Certain States have rights with respect to the Personal Data collected by businesses. You may exercise the following rights regarding your Personal Data, subject to certain exceptions and limitations:

• The right to confirm whether we process Personal Data about you.
• The right to correct inaccuracies in the Personal Data we have collected about you.
• The right to know the categories and specific pieces of Personal Data we collect, use, disclose, the categories of sources from which we collected your Personal Data, our purposes for collecting or selling your Personal Data, the categories of your Personal Data that we have disclosed for a business purpose, and the categories of third parties with which we have shared Personal Data;
• The right to request that we delete the Personal Data we have collected about you.
• The right to opt out of (i) the sharing of Personal Data for targeted advertising or (ii) the sale of Personal Data.  Please note that if you opt out of certain practices, we may be unable to provide you with some services.  Additionally, we do not knowingly sell or share Personal Data of individuals under 16.
• Depending on your state, the right to receive a portable and readily usable copy of the Personal Data we have collected about you, to the extent feasible.
• Depending on your state, the right to limit our processing of certain “sensitive” Personal Data (or to withdraw consent for such processing if you previously gave it).
• The right not to receive discriminatory treatment for the exercise of these privacy rights.

To exercise any of the above rights, please visit “Your Plex Privacy Rights”.

We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes other than as permitted under the CCPA.

We may require additional information to verify your requests to exercise your rights or understand the scope of your request. You will not be required to create an account with us to submit a request or have it fulfilled. If you do have an account, we will require you to submit your request from the email address associated with your account. You may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf by submitting a request from the email associated with your account and providing the Plex username or email address of your agent. 

If you have submitted a request that you feel we have not reasonably fulfilled, you may contact us to appeal our decision by emailing us.

 

What information does Plex collect from my Plex Media Server?

Plex understands that you have personal content that you store using the Plex Media Server software (“Personal Content”).

Plex collects the following Personal Data from your Plex Media Server: email, IP address and username.

Plex does NOT share information about your Personal Content with third parties.

Plex does NOT collect:

• Content titles of your Personal Content.
• Filenames EXCEPT those that may be collected through optional crash reports.
• Metadata for Personal Content (e.g., information about the specific file, cover art, subtitles, running length, etc.) EXCEPT to customize viewed content syncing to enhance your account or if you have enabled metadata matching capabilities in which case such data will be anonymously sent to us or you have integrated with a third-party control or playback mechanism that requires us to access your metadata to play the relevant content (e.g., if you use Amazon Alexa to play a particular song or movie from your Personal Content, then our Services may search your Personal Content metadata in order to find and play the song or movie requested.)
• Data transferred through the Plex Relay Service. If you use the Plex Relay Service to connect or stream your Personal Content to another device, we will transfer the data necessary to perform the service. All such traffic is encrypted from end-to-end in a manner that makes it impossible for Plex or the Plex Relay Service to decrypt or view any data. The data transferred via the Plex Relay Service is not stored by Plex except for the temporary buffering of data required to provide you with an optimal streaming experience. You can disable the Plex Relay Service by turning off the “Enable Relay” preference in the “Network” section of your Plex Media Server Settings.

Plex does collect:

• Configuration data. Information about your configuration or use of our Services when you create a Plex Media Server on a local device, connect to a Plex Media Server that you or another person have configured, or download or connect to a Plex app, or interact with or use other Plex software or Service. This information may include an IP address, the number of files, and information used to secure access to our Services.
• Activity data. Information about your activity as described in “What information does Plex collect about my activity on the Services?”

 

What information does Plex either anonymize or aggregate?

Certain activity information is either anonymized or made part of an aggregated set of information. This means that it cannot be linked to you. These activities are:

• TV program guide data:
  • Zip codes and local television providers.
• Server / library data:
  • The data listed under Plex Media Server/Library Data in “What information does Plex collect about my activity on the Services?”
• DVR device information:
  • Manufacturer name and model