Disney+ password sharing crackdown: What you need to know

Just a few years ago, the streaming industry was more concerned about growth than revenue, and as long as subscriber numbers grew, investors were happy. And while the big streamers didn’t condone password sharing, they weren’t terribly concerned about it, either—after all, today’s password-sharing freeloader could become tomorrow’s paying subscriber, right?

Now, it’s all about profitability rather than sheer growth, and the streamers—including Disney (which, remember, owns Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) are focused on revenue and belt-tightening. Price hikes and cheaper ad-supported tiers are two ways to generate more cash, while cracking down on password sharing is a third.

Disney also has its eyes on Netflix, which just rolled out its own—quite successful—password-sharing crackdown, so it’s no surprise that Disney+ (along with Hulu and ESPN+) is next.

According to an updated Disney+ user agreement that was emailed to U.S. subscribers in early February (Canadian subscribers got a new user agreement last year), password sharing is now officially prohibited for new signups.

If you’re an existing Disney+ account holder, the new password-sharing rules kick in starting March 14.

As far as actual enforcement goes, we’ll start to see than happening this summer, when Disney+ users who are “suspected of improper sharing” will be prompted to sign up for their own accounts, The Verge reports.

The new Disney+ user agreement, dated January 25, 2024, states:

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 apple for certain Service Tiers.

In other words, you can’t share your password with anyone who doesn’t live in your home, although Disney is leaving wiggle room for an eventual option that does allow password sharing (paid, presumably).

The language in the new Disney+ user agreement echoes that of Disney-owned Hulu, which recent sent its own revised service agreement to members.

The new Disney user agreement says the company may “analyze the use of your account” to check if you’re breaking the password-sharing rules.

For its part, Netflix has said it uses a combination of IP addresses, device IDs, and “account activity from devices signed into the Netflix account” to determine if an account is being used in the proper household, and it’s likely Disney can employ similar methods.

Disney is being vague on this point for now, with the user agreement saying only that “we may limit or terminate access to the Service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this Agreement.”

Among those “other steps” include the potential for Disney to “restrict, suspend, or terminate your access,” as well as to “take appropriate legal action.”

A more likely scenario than court is that Disney will prompt password-sharing subscribers to pay extra to share their accounts.

And speaking of which…

Not yet, but an above-board (and paid) method for sharing your Disney+ account is on the way.

Last year, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company is “exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family.”

More recently, Disney execs said existing Disney+ subscribers would soon get the option to share their accounts for an “additional fee.”

Again, we won’t know how much paid account sharing will cost until Disney announces it.

That said, we can look over at Netflix, which charges its U.S. subscribers $7.99 a month per “extra member.”

Will Disney+ charge a similar amount for account sharing? We may find out soon.