Disney+ Can ‘Terminate’ Your Account If They Catch You Password Sharing

If you’re a Disney+ subscriber, you likely received an email today alerting you to the fact that the service was updating its “Subscriber Agreement.” The new rules took effect on January 25 for first-time users, while they go into effect on March 14 for existing subscribers.

The email notes several changes to the company’s policies.. Among the changes highlighted in the email: “We’re adding limitations on sharing your account outside of your household, and explaining how we may assess your compliance with these limitations.”

When you look at the new subscriber agreement, you can read this policy spelled out in clear detail. According to the section on “Account Sharing,” the agreement explicitly states that you “may not share your subscription outside your household” — with a household defined as “the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the individuals who reside therein.”

If you do violate the agreement the Subscriber Agreement document further states Disney “may limit or terminate access to the Service.”

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The previous version of the Disney+ Subscriber Agreement (which you can read here) never even uses the word “household,” much less defines it as it pertains to giving someone outside your home your Disney+ password. It does note that as a Disney+ subscriber you agree not to “share your login credentials with third parties.”

Do I think Disney+ is going to start running around canceling people’s subscriptions if they share passwords with a girlfriend or a child or a neighbor who walks their dog sometimes? No. But the language in the Subscriber Agreement says they are well within their rights to do so if they want to.

It also indicates the company is serious about their promise from last summer to crack down on password sharing. At that time, Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company was “[considering] the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family” and that they would “roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024.” Iger also asserted his belief that if they worked to “eliminate [password sharing] it will convert to growth in subs.”

Disney is not alone in wanting to cut down on password sharing between households. Netflix began cracking down on the practice last year, and even began offering subscribers the opportunity to add others to their account at a slightly discounted rate or $8 a month. So far, Disney has not announced their own version of such a plan, if they intend to implement one.