Don’t Share Your Passwords For These Streaming Platforms In 2024
Password sharing: That little practice of users sharing their login credentials with friends and family members for a website or app. While this term could apply to any number of websites, it most commonly refers to people sharing access to streaming platforms like Netflix. Put simply, it’s a way for users to avoid paying full price for their own account, allowing them to binge “Stranger Things” or “Queen’s Gambit” free of charge.With streaming getting more expensive, users cut every corner they can. Unfortunately, the whole practice is gradually going the way of the Dodo.
What changed? Password sharing has always cut into a streaming service’s profits, and now they’ve decided to do something about it. As long as there are no restrictions on the practice, streaming platforms miss out on a large chunk of the market. While only a few platforms are cracking down on password sharing presently, analysts predict more will join the fold in due time. It might be a hard pill for users to swallow, but companies have introduced a couple of benefits to ease the pain.
In particular, some of the streaming services have started adding lower-cost tiers, including ad-supported options, which are becoming increasingly popular. So, which platforms are cracking down on sharing passwords? Netflix led the charge and was promptly followed by Disney+. Hulu is also joining the crackdown along with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max.
Apple TV Plus
Apple TV+ is a unique streaming service with its rules on password sharing. While it doesn’t have any rules against sharing passwords with others, it does limit the number of people who can use the same account, which it has been doing since day one. This can be seen as a form of password-sharing restriction.
Those that aren’t cracking down on password sharing
Despite all the crackdowns, there are a few streaming services that don’t appear to be putting a limit on password sharing just yet.
Amazon’s Prime Video hasn’t declared an initiative to restrict users from sharing passwords. Since Prime Video isn’t Amazon’s primary business, it’s unlikely to follow Netflix and the others, though it did recently introduce ads. In fact, in a post on X (formerly Twitter) from May 2023,Prime Video trolled Netflix for its restriction on password sharing. Prime Video even has a way for users to grant others access to their accounts without sharing their login credentials.
Meanwhile, NBCUniversal, which owns Peacock, has guidelines in its TOS that restricts account usage to those in the same household, but it doesn’t seem to strictly enforce it. A representative for the company has stated that there are no plans to change policies.
