Password sharing: Crackdown coming to Disney+
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00:00Hello, I'm technology writer Matt Morne-Hickson and today we're going to be taking a look
00:05at the streaming services that are cracking down on password sharing in the UK and abroad.
00:11Now I hear you say, what is password sharing? Well, to be honest, it's pretty self-explanatory
00:18and it's pretty much what the name says on the tin. But if you've ever split a Netflix
00:22account or a Discovery Plus account or a Disney Plus account or an Apple TV Plus account,
00:29hold up, we've really got to have an intervention here because these streaming services can't
00:34keep getting away with using Plus in the name. This is becoming a bit of a joke. If you ever
00:38split one of these accounts with your family members, with your uni flatmates, then that's
00:43password sharing if you aren't living in the same physical building as the account holder.
00:48Some of the streaming services are looking for extra ways to make money as registrations
00:53have plateaued, generally speaking, post-pandemic, and they're still pumping cash into making
00:58original shows, which they cancel after one or two seasons, and movies as well. And the
01:05way to make extra cash that they've settled on, some of them at least, is password sharing
01:11and crackdown on that. Netflix allows you, if you're on the standard or premium tiers,
01:16the two most expensive ones in the UK at least, you can pay £4.99 for up to two extra people
01:23to be part of your household. So again, physically, if you're not in the same building as the
01:30account holder, they consider that not part of the household. Even if it is your family,
01:35you have to be in the physical location for that to be a household. Although if you are
01:39inside the household, you can stream to your heart's content, depending how many devices
01:46you're allowed at a time. That depends on what you pay for. Disney Plus will start a
01:51password sharing crackdown in the near future. I think it's going to be September 2024 in the UK.
01:58For those who live in the UK currently, BBC iPlayer, Now TV, Prime Video, Apple TV Plus
02:04don't have any restrictions on password sharing, so you can still share your accounts with
02:09your mum and dad and your brother and your uni flatmates. But there are limits on the
02:16amount of devices that can stream at the same time, depending on what tier of subscription
02:20you have for the services. So make sure you're aware of that and then kick your brother off
02:26when you want to watch a new episode of The Boys or House of the Dragon. But you can never
02:32rule out that these companies won't follow in the footsteps of Netflix and now Disney
02:36Plus. If Disney's attempt at password crackdown proves to be a success in this year, not taking
02:42subscribers like Netflix did initially anyway, yeah, we could probably see other services
02:49following in the footsteps. But currently it's only Netflix and now Disney Plus that
02:54are doing this password sharing crackdown. But we'll update this video if any more get
03:01added in the coming years.