Vimeo has sent out the following email to anyone who has a Vimeo account. The email details changes to security regarding videos that are set to Unlisted. Some companies, organizations, and users, may have a very large array of videos that are unlisted, and if they don’t go through the tedious steps of manually updating the video embed codes for those videos they will no longer be available. Any videos that were uploaded before September 14, 2021 and set to unlisted will no longer be accessible through Vimeos embeddable player starting on January 21, 2025.
At least, in my opinion, getting individuals to go through videos and have to manually make adjustments themselves to embed codes for a service they are paying for is pretty ridiculous. If you have a lot of unlisted videos, it would take considerable time to change all the embed codes. Vimeo should be sorting this out for its customers and not making its customers do all of the work. There is a reason why so many creatives have abandoned the Vimeo platform and moved to other services.
Below you can see the full email that was sent out to anyone with a Vimeo account.
Dear Vimeo user,
At Vimeo, we are continuously enhancing our security standards to protect the privacy of your videos. In September 2021, we rolled out a security update that made new unlisted video embeds even harder for someone to discover if you haven’t shared the link with them. We are now extending that update to videos that were uploaded before September 2021, and asking users who want enhanced security to update their existing embed codes or change their video privacy settings.
You do not have to opt into these enhancements, though we encourage you to do so. If you do nothing, we will automatically disable old embed codes on January 21, 2025.
More details on your options are below or you watch the video above to find out more.
Option 1: Update your video embed codes.
To download your personalized list of affected videos and manually update their embed codes:
Sign in to vimeo.com and navigate to Account Settings > Privacy.
Look for the ‘Unlisted Link Embed Security’ section of the page. Here, you’ll find a downloadable list of all of your videos impacted by this update. The CSV will contain a link to the video, the video title, and a new embed code for you to use.
Copy the new embed code from each affected video listed in the CSV file, and replace it on your sites.
Once you’ve updated your embed codes, return to Account Settings > Privacy and toggle-on ‘Enable Retroactive Security Update.’ This will ensure all your new uploads include the privacy hash.
Option 2: Change your video privacy settings from “unlisted” to “password protected.”
For added security, you can change your affected videos to “password protected.” If you choose this option, you will not need to update your embed codes. However, your viewers will require a password to gain access to your videos wherever they are shared online.
Option 3: Do nothing.
Any videos that were uploaded before September 14, 2021 and set to unlisted will no longer be accessible through our embeddable player starting on January 21, 2025.
We understand that changing codes may represent some effort, which is why we’re giving you plenty of time to make adjustments to your videos. We’re here to help, so don’t hesitate to contact us.
Best,
Your Vimeo Team
