Some videos are meant for everyone; others are just for coworkers, clients, or friends.
As we upload videos and publish content to the cloud, exposing parts of our personal lives, company info, or creative projects, privacy becomes an important consideration of our process.
Maybe you’re working on an early version of an educational video or internal communication, and only want certain people within the company to review it before it goes public.
Or maybe you’re creating promotional videos, but only want people to view them on your website and not on Vimeo.com. Video privacy settings play a critical role in these use cases and many others.
Upload a video and choose your privacy setting →
What is video privacy and why is it important?
Fortunately, all of these scenarios and more are possible with Vimeo’s privacy settings, whether it’s for your individual one-off videos, or a video in an embeddable playlist. We’ll break it down for you to make sure that you can keep your videos as secret — or public — as you need them to be.
Individual video privacy settings
With Vimeo’s privacy settings, you can control who can see your videos by using one of the video settings. Everyone who uploads a video on Vimeo has access to the following settings:
- Public means that anyone (yes, anyone) can browse to, search for, and watch your video.
Upload a public video →
- Private means that only you (and team members on your account) can see your video.
- Password will allow you to add a password for viewers to gain access to your video, including Vimeo and non-Vimeo members.
Upload a private video →
You can set your embed privacy to "Anywhere, so anyone can embed your video on an external website.
If your embed privacy is set to "Nowhere," no one can embed your video on an external website.
How can you share a private video?
If you are on a paid subscription, you will also have access to a couple additional, granular privacy settings:
- Unlisted is a semi-private setting that'll make your individual video visible only to people who have the link. Your videos won't appear in any channels or groups and the video’s credits will be removed. (Please note, although the video will not appear in a public search on Vimeo.com, anyone with access to this link can share it with anyone else.) Learn the difference between unlisted and private videos.
- Hide from Vimeo will make the video unable to be accessed on the Vimeo.com website (unless you are logged in as yourself), but it still can be embedded on other websites. Your video can be added to showcases and portfolios, but no other types of collections.
Upload a private video to share →
You can change the privacy settings at any time, but you can also configure a default privacy setting for all future uploads in the Upload defaults tab of your Account settings page. You can also adjust the privacy setting on the upload page itself.
Paid users also have access to domain-level privacy, which means that you can choose what specific website(s) you want to allow your video to be embedded on.
Starter users and up have access to review pages; semi-private video links (similar to the Unlisted privacy setting) that can only be viewed by the person with the link. You can remove Vimeo branding from this page and enable notes for your collaborators to add comments about what works and what doesn’t in this video cut. The only set privacy you can add to a review page is a password, so please note that anyone with this link will still be able to share it and the password with anyone else. This setting works well for collaborating with others on an unfinished version of a video.
How can you ensure secure video sharing?
For a secure video sharing, prioritize platforms like Vimeo that offer robust privacy settings, including password protection to restrict access. Leveraging Vimeo's advanced privacy controls helps manage who can view and interact with your content, ensuring a more secure sharing experience.
How do you share safe video links?
To ensure you're sharing safe video links, it's best to choose platforms that offer robust privacy features, which provide password protection and private sharing capabilities. When you share links from any service, make sure to use the platform's official sharing tools instead of creating them manually, because that can lead to potential security risks.
How can you upload a video online for private viewing?
To ensure your video content is seen only by your intended audience, Vimeo offers several robust privacy settings to achieve this. Here's how you can upload a video for private viewing.
To upload a private video on Vimeo, you can either configure the privacy settings during the upload or modify them later in the video settings. During the upload, locate the Private icon and select from choices such as "Unlisted," "Password," or "Hide from Vimeo." Alternatively, once the upload is complete, navigate to your video manager, select the video, access its settings, go to the Share button, and choose your preferred private viewing option before saving the changes.
Keep in mind that even with private settings, sharing the direct link will provide access unless it's password-protected, and embedding the video on other websites may still allow viewing depending on the privacy level you have selected.
How can you share encrypted videos?
If you're looking for dedicated secure video hosting, platforms like VdoCipher or certain Vimeo plans come with advanced features such as DRM encryption, dynamic watermarking, and domain restrictions to boost protection while streaming.
You can also share encrypted videos using secure cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Proton Drive. These platforms provide end-to-end encryption for files both at rest and in transit, and they let you share with specific users or through password-protected links.
On the other hand, if you have highly sensitive content, consider encrypting the video file locally with specialized software before uploading it to any platform. Then, make sure to share the decryption key securely with the intended recipient separately.
More complex Vimeo privacy settings
When it comes to showcases, video portfolios, video galleries, embeddable playlists, and folders, things get more complex, as these are different ways to group multiple videos.
A Vimeo video showcase can be set to public, or it can be password protected.
Like with your individual videos, anyone you share the private showcase link and password with can share it with anyone else.
Adding an unlisted video to a showcase all depends on the privacy setting of the showcase.
If you add an unlisted video to a public showcase, only you and anyone with access to that individual video can see the video within the showcase. However, adding an unlisted video to a password-protected showcase means that anyone with the password to the showcase can access any unlisted videos within (without entering additional passwords).
Once you enter embeddable playlist territory, things change a bit.
Only public showcases and showcases set to Hide from Vimeo can be embedded, as password-protected showcases cannot be. Also, only videos with a privacy setting of "Anyone" or "Hide from Vimeo.com" can be displayed in an embedded playlist. But the individual video’s embed privacy setting (even domain-level privacy) will always be respected in this situation.
Create a video showcase →
Starter subscribers and up can collaborate privately using Vimeo’s folders feature.
Using this allows you to limit access to a folder that you’ve created by either adding a team member as a contributor, an admin, or a viewer.
Enterprise Vimeo accounts can make use of additional folder-based permissions by assigning members as contributor plus or folder admins. These accounts can also automatically determine folder access using SSO groups.
Understanding how Team folder permissions interact with privacy settings is essential for effective video management on Vimeo.
When someone on your team has access to a shared folder, they automatically gain access to all the videos within, regardless of individual video privacy settings.
For instance, even if a video is set to "Password protected," team members with folder access can view it without needing the password. This integration between Team permissions and privacy settings guarantees a seamless collaboration experience while maintaining video security.
As a reminder, viewers on a folder can only access the folders they’ve been shared on, leave comments on videos, and get notified of responses to their comments.
Frequently asked questions about video privacy
Can you change a video's privacy setting after it's been uploaded?
Yes, with Vimeo you can easily change the privacy setting of your video at any time, even after uploading it.
Do these privacy settings affect where you can embed my video?
Indeed! Some settings like Private will restrict embedding, while others like Unlisted and Public typically allow for embedding on a web page or on your socials, but you should check with the video hosting service you use.
When should you choose the "Unlisted" privacy setting for your video?
An Unlisted video is a convenient way to share videos with only a specific group. It eliminates the need to take the time to individually grant viewing access via every email address you want to give access.
What does the "Hide from Vimeo" privacy option do?
This setting makes your video unsearchable and unviewable on vimeo.com but it does allow the video to be embedded and watched on other websites, wherever you choose to put it.
How does video privacy apply to live streaming?
Live streaming broadcasts your content in real-time, which makes privacy challenging. With Vimeo, you get a secure live streaming platform
Enterprise-grade video security settings
Even post-pandemic, today’s workforce is increasingly global, as HR teams realize they have access to highly skilled talent from around the world without location limitations.
To fit this model, we’re seeing companies of all sizes leverage live video in their revamped corporate communication strategies. Whether you’re using video to host a virtual training or to live-stream monthly town halls, knowing that your content is secure is still of the utmost importance, especially regarding sensitive internal communications.
Enterprise accounts have three unique privacy options available for added layers of security.
First: controlling access with Vimeo Enterprise’s Single Sign-On (SSO) functionality. SSO streamlines the sign-up process by removing the need for administrators to create or delete new accounts and passwords, making logging in to video content seamless for employees—and more secure across the board.
For additional information on security features, check out Vimeo’s security page.
Second: "Group" or "Enterprise" privacy settings limit who can share video publicly, prevent searching public content created on Vimeo.com and stop team members from changing the name and email address associated with their account.
Third: Enterprise customers using Showcases can secure a Showcase via a custom domain with a unique Vimeo URL or a domain they already own, or by implementing the "Only my team can access" view.
So hopefully, you’ve learned a few things on how to keep your videos private, no matter where you're sharing them.
We hope you’ll find the best way to protect your work or expand your audience using Vimeo.
For a more granular breakdown of our privacy settings, check out our Help Center articles on an overview of all of our privacy settings, how to change your privacy settings, and what changes about the privacy of videos in your collections or review pages.
