Completed Anonymised Logs

[adrianwi 238]

This is an example of the one @@reggi has build into the standalone embystat app > https://emby.media/community/index.php?/topic/56640-developing-a-standalone-embystat-server/page-38&do=findComment&comment=872178

2020-04-15.log

Edited April 15, 2020 by adrianwi

[porkbone 38]

+1

[Thuzad 42]

This feature is really necessary, I don't know if a bash file would be enough.

[anthonws 40]

+1

[Florian2000 17]

yes, this is crucial...from a GDPR point of view I would assume it is mandatory...

[ebr 14939]

1 hour ago, Florian2000 said:

from a GDPR point of view I would assume it is mandatory...

Hi.  Your log files are on your own machine so this should not come into play.  Anything you post out here is covered by our standard terms of use.  It would be nice to have this feature but, in the mean time, you can anonymize before posting or send them privately.  

[Florian2000 17]

1 minute ago, ebr said:

Hi.  Your log files are on your own machine so this should not come into play.  Anything you post out here is covered by our standard terms of use.  It would be nice to have this feature but, in the mean time, you can anonymize before posting or send them privately.  

yep, that's a valid point...in this case the user gives the information back.
so when server-logs are needed for further investigations it would be nice to have an automatic option which does this task for the user.

of course it's possible that every user does this task on its own. And yes, this would be a nice user experience if it is a standard feature within emby.

[ebr 14939]

Part of the issue will be that there really isn't any way for the system to know exactly what needs to be anonymized.  We could replace IP addresses but, beyond that, it is hard to know exactly what someone would consider sensitive or identifiable.  For instance, there could be parameters in urls Emby has no knowledge of or simply file locations or names.

So, in the end, it is really only you, the end user, that will know what you want obscured.

[Spaceboy 2500]

i think if you obscured ip addresses, WAN address and iptv url's you would satisfy 95% of people requirements here

[ebr 14939]

2 minutes ago, Spaceboy said:

and iptv url's

And how do we know what those are...?

[adrianwi 238]

I'd almost forgotten about this.  Perhaps we might get it for it's 5th birthday 

Does the log file need to include any URLs, or at least full ones?

Edited January 11, 2022 by adrianwi

[Spaceboy 2500]

8 minutes ago, ebr said:

And how do we know what those are...?

you're very much a "problems" person arent you?

that would be string in this field:

surely you could do a simple find and replace

but start with what you can do!!! stop rejecting things because you can't fulfil all of the request perfectly

[Luke 37129]

I think the original log file should be left as-is, but we should have a button in the server logs section to download an anonymized version.

[CBers 6771]

1 minute ago, Luke said:

I think the original log file should be left as-is, but we should have a button in the server logs section to download an anonymized version.

Why can't you just stop logging IP addresses by default, like Plex does? 

Their logs just show xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx etc. 

The same for anything else identifiable. 

 

[Luke 37129]

Just now, CBers said:

Why can't you just stop logging IP addresses by default, like Plex does? 

Their logs just show xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx etc. 

The same for anything else identifiable. 

 

That might be what you get when you download the log from the web interface, but I think if you actually went and found the log file it would still be there. I could be wrong obviously, but I know there are times when the admin may want to see the original ip address. 

[CBers 6771]

Just now, Luke said:

That might be what you get when you download the log from the web interface, but I think if you actually went and found the log file it would still be there. I could be wrong obviously, but I know there are times when the admin may want to see the original ip address. 

Hide it when not in debug mode, but show when in debug mode? 

 

[Luke 37129]

1 minute ago, CBers said:

Hide it when not in debug mode, but show when in debug mode? 

 

Right, yes, something along those lines.

[ebr 14939]

22 minutes ago, Spaceboy said:

but start with what you can do!!! stop rejecting things because you can't fulfil all of the request perfectly

As always, it is more about value vs. cost.  When there are still large holes in a solution, then that reduces its value vs its cost and we still are finding more value in working in other areas at this point.  I'm sure this is something that we will eventually provide.

[adrianwi 238]

Your users privacy should be of utmost value 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by adrianwi

[CBers 6771]

10 minutes ago, adrianwi said:

Your users privacy should be of utmost value 

 

You have to remember that the logs are on the user's own server, so under the user's control.

If they post the server logs, then they need to anonymise the contents first.

You wouldn't go posting your bank details on the Emby forums, so why would you post anything with IP addresses or anything else identifiable in.
 

[Spaceboy 2500]

56 minutes ago, CBers said:

You have to remember that the logs are on the user's own server, so under the user's control.

If they post the server logs, then they need to anonymise the contents first.

You wouldn't go posting your bank details on the Emby forums, so why would you post anything with IP addresses or anything else identifiable in.
 

perhaps at the very least, the How to Report a Problem post should be updated to suggest this and the things that may need anonymising?

[woonkamerjf 1]

12 hours ago, ebr said:

As always, it is more about value vs. cost.  When there are still large holes in a solution, then that reduces its value vs its cost and we still are finding more value in working in other areas at this point.  I'm sure this is something that we will eventually provide.

The value here is that a lot of problems are not being reported properly or not at all because it's too big threshold for a lot of people. This is a missing chance for EMBY to improve the product. A lot of value is lost for not implementing. 

[CBers 6771]

6 minutes ago, Spaceboy said:

perhaps at the very least, the How to Report a Problem post should be updated to suggest this and the things that may need anonymising?

Yes, a good idea.

Hopefully @cayars can add something.
 

[adrianwi 238]

6 hours ago, woonkamerjf said:

The value here is that a lot of problems are not being reported properly or not at all because it's too big threshold for a lot of people. This is a missing chance for EMBY to improve the product. A lot of value is lost for not implementing. 

Exactly. I've stopped installing the beta versions as it's too much of a PITA to anonymise a log file when reporting issues.  I don't really want to message them with personal details either.  There should certainly be lots of warnings about posting log files on a public forum without first removing any personal data.  

[adrianwi 238]

6 hours ago, Spaceboy said:

perhaps at the very least, the How to Report a Problem post should be updated to suggest this and the things that may need anonymising?

Great idea!  And once you've come up with the list of things that may need anonymising, write a script that does it automatically when downloaded them.  Thanks