In late 2023, Disney Plus announced that it would be following in the footsteps of Netflix and limiting password sharing on user accounts (alongside Hulu in the US, which is also owned by Disney) in Canada, the US and UK.
It began emailing US subscribers in February 2024 to give them advance notice of the changes and later confirmed that the the new rules would start to come into effect in June 1, 2024 for some jurisdictions before officially starting in the US too in September 2024.
That means that if you share your Disney Plus account with people who don’t live under the same roof, you will no longer be able to from September 2024 and will instead need to purchase an ‘Extra Member’ to be able to.
What are the Disney Plus password sharing rules?
Here’s what the Disney Plus user agreement now says after its January 2024 update:
“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.”
At the moment, there is no tier that permits subscription sharing, but we think that’ll change in the next few months based on updates that some Disney Plus subscribers in the UK have seen. In July 2024, the steamer updated its UK Subscriber Agreement terms to include various mentions of a new ‘Extra Member’ feature, giving us the best indication we have so far that it is coming.
However, no official announcement has yet been made about the paid sharing feature and how much it will cost, so it’s not yet known when it will be rolled out to the UK and other regions like the US.
Where are the Disney Plus password sharing rules being enforced?
- Canada
- The United States
- The United Kingdom
Disney Plus brought in the new rules for new customers in Canada in late 2023 and has since extended them to customers in the US and UK too. The new password sharing restrictions were updated in the T&Cs of US subscribers in March 2024.
But actual enforcement of the password sharing rules partially began in some regions in June 2024. The date was confirmed by Disney CEO Bob Iger during a CNBC interview in April, which helped clear up earlier confusion around the rules coming into force in “early 2024”.
During the same interview, Iger also clarified that the password sharing crackdown would see a gradual rollout in select regions, which means the US and UK will likely see it first, before being expanded globally in late 2024.
Indeed, Iger later confirmed during the Disney’s Q3 earnings call on August 7 that the Disney Plus password crackdown is definitely coming in September, saying “we started our password-sharing initiative in June… That kicks in, in earnest, in September”.
How will Disney Plus stop password sharing?
The service is expected to use location information, device identification and other data, such as IP address ranges, to identify when someone is using your account from a different location. If the system decides that you’re sharing someone else’s account, you’ll be invited to sign up for your own subscription.
If you don’t sign up and Disney Plus reckons you’re sharing something you shouldn’t, it says it may “limit or terminate access to the service and/or take any other steps as permitted by this agreement” for the account’s users and owner. That could mean legal action, although we can’t imagine Disney Plus is going to chase ordinary people through the courts. Account restrictions or closure are much more likely.
How much is Disney Plus charging for password sharing?
At the moment, the answer to that question is: It isn’t charging at all, because it hasn’t added that feature yet.
Unlike Netflix, which enables subscribers to pay extra to add one or two additional members to their subscription, Disney Plus has not yet added a similar option to its service. That means for the time being your subscription is limited to the people you share a roof with and can’t be extended to include anybody else.
Disney has said that it will be adding the option to share with additional people, for example kids who’ve gone off to uni, but we don’t yet know when it’s coming or how much it will cost. Summer 2024 is likely. Hopefully it will cost less than Netflix’s option, which is $7.99 / £4.99 per person per month.
What that means in practical terms is that for the time being at least, additional members need to sign up for their own Disney Plus subscriptions. In the US, that means the cheapest option is the ad-supported tier, Disney Plus Basic, which is $7.99 per month in the US.
The UK equivalent is Disney Plus Standard With Ads, which is £4.99 a month but limits you to 1080p video quality. If you want 4K and HDR you need Premium, which is £10.99 a month.
What if I subscribed through a bundle from another company?
The new rules apply to all existing subscribers irrespective of whether they signed up directly or via a third party.
What if I want to use my Disney Plus account on holiday, or if I’m travelling for work?
We don’t know yet. But again, looking at Netflix can give us some clues: Netflix doesn’t want to stop you streaming when you’re away for your holidays, and will enable you to ask for a seven-day access code that’ll enable you to tune in when you’re away from home.
According to the Disney Plus help centre for the US and in other parts of the world too (the same language is also in the UK version), a household “means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the people who live there”. So there’s definitely room there for letting you use your “collection of devices” elsewhere.
Will Disney Plus let me use a VPN?
Probably not: using a Virtual Private Network is against the Disney Plus terms of service, and the service does block known IP addresses associated with some VPN networks. If you’re considering trying one of the best VPNs be aware that it’s a potentially risky move, and what works today may well be blocked tomorrow.
If you’re planning to leave Disney Plus when the password sharing restrictions are brought in, then here’s our guide for how to cancel your Disney Plus subscription. Be sure to check out all the best Disney Plus movies and new Disney Plus movies before you unsubscribe though.
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