Upcoming Changes in Disney+ Policy: End of Shared Access Era Approaching

It seems like streaming services are about to start blindly following the Netflix model, and the worst thing to happen to streaming in years is about to become more popular: the removal of password sharing. We learned just last month that Disney+ was exploring the possibility of not allowing users to share passwords with someone that doesn’t live with them. Now, though, it looks like Disney is ready to get started with that crackdown, as it has rolled out new account policies to subscribers in Canada.

Disney+ is sending out emails to Canadian customers warning of an upcoming change to its subscriber agreement. Under this new agreement, there is a new account sharing section with the below statement.

“Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household. “Household” means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein. Additional usage rules may apply for certain Service Tiers.

We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement. If we determine that you have violated this Agreement, we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement (including those set forth in Section 6 of this Agreement).

You will be responsible for any use of your account by your household, including compliance with this section.”

There are a few takeaways we should note here. Mainly, the fact that we’re not sure how, exactly, Disney+ will actually prevent password sharing in real life. For one, Netflix might throw you a warning saying that you can’t use Netflix unless you live with the owner of the account, and prompting you to verify whether you’re actually the owner of the account before proceeding.

It’s not clear if Disney+ will do something like Netflix’s approach, as the actual policy just says that Disney might analyze the use of the account and take appropriate measures if it thinks it’s not being used within the household’s limits. The “unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier” is also of note, as it sounds like Disney+ might actually provide a way for users to actually share their subscription outside of their household. This might come in the form of sub-accounts, like Netflix is doing, or maybe as a more premium subscription tier that has that as one of its many features.

It’s not clear when this policy will roll out in other locations, but if you’re in Canada, it will start on November 1st.

Source: MobileSyrup via The Verge

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