Of Netflix’s 220 million subscribers worldwide, 100 million share their passwords with family or friends, according to the company’s latest quarterly results. This easy-to-detect practice (by monitoring the IP addresses used to access smart TVs, for example) is officially prohibited, but it has been tolerated so far because it has allowed the service to become known, especially to users. an audience that was not used to paying for TV online.
To curb its recent loss of subscribers (a first since the launch of the service) which has caused the value of its share to fall, Netflix now intends to end this sharing within a year. It is not known what strategy will be adopted, but it is to be expected that subscribers who share their password will be offered a way out. In some countries, Netflix already allows them to pay a monthly fee to add occasional users to their account.
Not all streaming companies prohibit plan sharing. In most cases, however, they maintain a vagueness around the phenomenon, by prohibiting the sharing of passwords, while allowing simultaneous broadcasting on several devices, for example (which is obviously also practical when several people within the same household want to watch different programs at the same time).
Password sharing comes with some risk after all. The person with whom you share your account could thus make purchases with your credit card if the platform allows transactions to be made (for example on Amazon Prime Video and Disney+, which allow you to rent films). If you reuse your password from one service to another (a habit to avoid) and you share it (rather than writing it yourself in the application), you will also give access to several of your accounts at a time.
Here’s what you need to know about sharing the major streaming services.
Amazon Prime Video
The creation of different personalized profiles is allowed, so that each member of the household has their own history and their own recommended videos. Three shows can be streamed simultaneously for a single account.
In its terms of use, Amazon mentions that the user « has the responsibility to maintain the confidentiality of [son] account and [son] password », and that he « assumes responsibility for all transactions made in [son] account or using [son] password « .
In some countries, Amazon allows a Prime Video subscription to be shared with one other adult and four teenagers by creating a » household (household), provided that all these persons reside in the same country. However, the feature is not available in Canada.
AppleTV+
Apple allows you to share an Apple TV+ account with five guests, provided you subscribe to the Apple One bundle. Sharing then extends to Apple Music, Apple Arcade and iCloud+ online storage. An individual Apple One plan costs $15.95 per month, while the family plan costs $20.95 per month.
According to Apple’s terms of service, members of a « family » are not required to live in the same home, but simply to live in the same country. A user can join a new family a maximum of twice per year, and the account manager can change family members only once every 90 days.
Club illico
Videotron’s Club illico streaming service does not regulate package sharing or the creation of multiple profiles, but the application allows two simultaneous viewings on two different devices.
In the terms of use of its websites, Videotron specifies, however, that you « are at all times responsible for your user names [et] of your passwords », and therefore of the transactions made to your account.
crave
Subscribers to the Crave Total plan can stream content on four devices at the same time.
However, Bell prohibits, in its terms and conditions, “allowing another person” to use your password.
Disney+
Disney+ allows simultaneous streaming on four different devices as well as the creation of personalized profiles.
The Disney+ subscription agreement prohibits « sharing login credentials with third parties », but still specifies that « if you authorize other people to access your Disney+ account, this Agreement […] also applies to their access”.
netflix
Netflix allows for the creation of custom profiles and streaming on two or four devices simultaneously, depending on the plan chosen (Standard, at $16.49 per month, or Premium, at $20.99 per month).
Although the company has turned a blind eye to account sharing since its inception, it is one of the clearest in its terms of use, where it states that its services « cannot be shared with people who do not are not part of your household.
Tou.tv EXTRA
Tou.tv EXTRA does not allow the creation of personalized profiles, but simultaneous viewing is possible on three devices.
Like Netflix, CBC/Radio-Canada is also unequivocal in the conditions of subscription to ICI TOU.TV EXTRA: “the content viewed via your subscription is intended exclusively for your personal and private use”.
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