Disney+ Confirms Start Date for Password Sharing Stoppage

Disney+ is the latest streamer implementing restrictions on the sharing of passwords between households. Mirroring an e-mail released by its sister streamer Hulu earlier this month, a new Disney+ email sent to subscribers unveils updated terms for those who choose to subscribe to the surface. In the email, Disney+ says it can and will revoke platform access from those accounts found to be sharing passwords between multiple locations.

“Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household,” the Hulu email read in part. “‘Household’ means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein.”

“We may, in our sole discretion, analyze the use of your account to determine compliance with this Agreement,” the email added. “If we determine, in our sole discretion, 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.”

It’s expected the monitoring and crackdown of password sharing will begin by the end of March if it hasn’t already. Disney CEO Bob Iger had previously said the password-sharing crackdown may not happen until some point in 2025.

“We have additional opportunities for improvement in our streaming business that will come from implementing stronger standards around account sharing,” Iger said during a Disney earning’s call last November. “Although given the timing of our plan rollout, we don’t expect a meaningful impact until 2025.”

“We already have the technical capability to monitor much of this (password sharing). And I am not going to give you a specific number except to say that it’s significant. But we don’t know of course is, as we get to work on this, how much of the password sharing, as we basically eliminate it, will convert to growth in subs,” Iger continued. “Obviously, we believe there will be some but we’re not speculating. What we are saying though, is that in calendar ’24, we’re going to get at this issue. And so while it is likely you’ll see some impact in calendar ’24. It’s possible that we won’t be completed or the work will not be completed within the calendar year, but we certainly have established this as a real priority, and we actually think that there’s an opportunity here to help us grow our business.”