Latest Update is a Serious Mistake

yeah weird, when I saw that I thought, Sounds like it’s going to cause a lot of questions about privacy and security.

The stream update is breaking my wp 4.0 sites.

Hey there! Thanks so much for your feedback.

We know this is a shock for some! But this was actually the top-requested feature for Stream from our users. And the amount of thought and time that went in to making this solution possible was staggering. Still, we know it won’t be for everyone, but our mission is to make Stream all that it can be.

Please read our full 2.0 announcement here: https://wp-stream.com/the-new-stream-is-here/

@brent there was an SVN bug that caused the package to be corrupt on WP.org, but that problem has since been resolved within an hour of the initial release. Please re-download the plugin file and upload to your site.

thanks for the quick reply. must have just been bad timing. thanks for the clarification and for your plugin. got any plans to open up some of the data?

Thanks for your response, Frankie.

I don’t doubt the amount of thought and time that has gone into this but, in my view, it’s still completely the wrong decision.

I wonder why others asked for it. Maybe they are on shared hosting plans with no room to store the data, or where they don’t trust the security of their host. I am fortunate to have an excellent host, and this change is way too much of a security risk for me to take. So this really isn’t for me.

Of course, it’s your plugin, which you provide here for free, so it’s up to you what you do. But the fact that you don’t charge makes me think you’re crazy to take on all the potential liability.

Eh, it was free. No expectations. No way we’ll upgrade. Moving everyone’s data to a single server could make it easier to monetize the data if WordPress.com’s TOS allows for such monetization.

Frankie, I’m sure you gave this move a lotta thought. What should we tell our clients that upgraded the plugin before we could stop them from doing so? Are our medical clients still HIPAA compliant?

We also have legal and financial clients that may be impacted by data storage compliance requirements (FINRA for example).

Any recommendations for amending our terms of service so we’re covered now that they have unknowingly moved their data to another server? Eh, too complicated, never mind.

Yes, I think they put all their efforts into thinking through the IT technicalities of the move, and few into the legal and other implications.

It’s a real shame. I wonder how many requests for this “feature” they actually received. Of course, they probably didn’t seek the views of anyone who didn’t ask for it, and they are now learning a harsh lesson.

Mind you, if they get hacked and sued, or if a regulator decides to look into where and how the data is stored, they’ll learn an even harsher one.

Compliance is big. Security is probably excellent at WordPress.com (VIP Hosting?) But the type of information being passed seems more valuable. Could it lead a hacker to other plugin/theme sites where license keys and payment information exist.

I’m sure this has all been well thought out by crew at Stream or I wouldn’t mention it. Maybe there’s an FAQ for noobs like me.

…love the idea from a business perspective and hope it works out for their sake. Is it any different than Google Analytics, Facebook or other plugins that collect and store data elsewhere? Maybe Stream is even safer than the others. Knowing everything about the work being done on your website seems a little different from sharing Google Analytics data but maybe it’s not?

Most of my clients have many security and compliance issues with this model, and the lack of warning really put me off, and indeed has caused me hours of grief.

I still believe this was not thought out from a compliance or security standpoint, regardless of how many people requested the feature. Some of my clients are actually major regional banks who are none too happy with this upgrade.

And I really love your plugin, which is the biggest shame of all. I wish I could use it.