Disney Plus will be implementing restrictions on password sharing for Canadian subscribers starting on November 1st. The company announced this change through an email, expressing the new policy that prohibits sharing the subscription outside of the household. While Disney has not provided specific details on how it will enforce this policy, the email does mention that account analysis may be conducted and non-compliance could lead to account limits or termination.
This move by Disney comes after CEO Bob Iger mentioned in the Q3 earnings call that the company was actively exploring ways to address shared accounts. Iger acknowledged that a substantial number of people are currently sharing passwords across Disney’s services, and the company has the technical capability to monitor sign-ins. Disney Plus is following in the footsteps of other streaming services like Netflix, which has been testing password-sharing restrictions for over a year and has already started cracking down on it in the US.
It is worth noting that while this restriction is being implemented, Canadian users now have access to the cheaper ad-supported tier of Disney Plus. As the streaming wars continue, these efforts to tackle password sharing may contribute to increased subscription rates, as experienced by Netflix after implementing their restrictions.