Why a reviewer asks
A device on your network that talks to a vendor's cloud is a device that could carry data out. The question is what it carries, how often and where. This page lists each thing a screen sends, so your network and privacy teams can check it against what they see on the wire. The hostnames and ports are in Hostnames and ports to allow.
What a screen sends
In order of how often it is sent. A ScreenlyOS device sends all of it. A screen running the Screenly app on a TV, a stick or a web browser sends the same, except screenshots, which depend on the platform.
- 01
A check-in, about every 30 seconds
A short message that says the screen is there, with a random delay of up to six minutes so a whole fleet never calls in at once. While a screen is online it also holds an open connection, so a change you make reaches it straight away.
Status and sync - 02
A report, every 15 minutes
Applies to: Any screen
What the dashboard shows on a screen's Details tab: its ID, uptime, local IP address, Wi-Fi or wired connection and signal strength, the network adapter's MAC address, the hardware model and serial number, and the software version. A ScreenlyOS device also reports hardware health, such as SD card errors on a Raspberry Pi.
Health and diagnostics - 03
A screenshot, every 15 minutes and on demand
Applies to: Every ScreenlyOS device; the Screenly app where the platform allows it
A picture of what the display is showing, so you can check it without standing in front of it. Someone in your account can also take one on demand, on ScreenlyOS 26.9.0 and later. It shows whatever is on the screen, including an internal page. Privacy mode stops screenshots of a screen being captured or stored, screen by screen.
Screenshots and privacy mode - 04
Error reports, when something fails
The technical details of a fault, sent to Sentry, the error tracking service listed on the sub-processors page.
- 05
Proof of play, when it is turned on
Applies to: Any screen, on request
Each item the screen played, for how long and why it ended, including anything that failed to load. A ScreenlyOS device holds the records for up to 31 days through an outage. It is off by default.
Proof of play
What a screen does not send
The things reviewers most often expect to find, and what actually happens.
| Topic | What happens |
|---|---|
| Internal pages and dashboards | A ScreenlyOS device loads them straight from your server or over your Tailscale network. Screenly does not receive them, except as part of a screenshot |
| Content you uploaded | Downloaded once and kept on the device, so it plays offline and is not fetched again |
| Anything to an AI model | Nothing. Screenly has no built-in AI |
| A way in | Nothing listens for inbound connections. The one exception is Prometheus metrics to your own monitoring, off by default |
Questions
Can we stop screenshots of a screen?
Yes. Privacy mode stops screenshots of that screen being captured or stored. Status, the Details tab and what is playing still work.
How much traffic does a screen use?
An idle ScreenlyOS device used about 8.6 MB in 24 hours in our own measurement, and devices running mixed sample content averaged around 3 GB a month. Your content decides the real figure: video is large, and content is cached so it is not downloaded twice.
Can a device be reached or logged in to remotely?
Not a ScreenlyOS device. It has no open ports, no default credentials and no backdoors, and connects outbound only.
Is traffic between the device and the cloud authenticated?
Yes, ScreenlyOS devices use mutual TLS. On devices with a TPM, the key is kept in the TPM.
Does Screenly keep a record of what each screen played?
Yes, on any screen, on request. Proof of play records each item a screen played and for how long, including anything that failed to load, and a ScreenlyOS device keeps the records for up to 31 days through an outage. It is off by default, and the dashboard does not show the records yet.