Everything We Know About Disney+ And Hulu's New Crackdown On Password Sharing

Learning to curb and control password sharing seems to be the buzziest tool in the streaming wars. Netflix took the initiative when it announced in 2022 that it would take measures against the issue, and went on to update its sharing rules multiple times before rolling out the changes in May 2023. On January 31, Disney declared its own crackdown on password sharing with an email to Hulu subscribers. The message called attention to the updated subscriber agreement and noted that the company will introduce restrictions for sharing passwords on March 14. The change will also apply to Disney+ and ESPN+ subscriptions. 

In hindsight, it seems obvious that Netflix's moves against password sharing were merely the opening salvo. The other streamers might have opted to hang back — possibly to see whether Netflix's customer base takes things in stride or grabs the pitchforks and torches — but Disney has planned to join in on the action for a while. During the company's third-quarter earnings call in 2023, CEO Bob Iger stated that the House of Mouse intends to address password sharing. "In calendar '24, we're going to get at the issue," Iger said (via CNN). "We certainly have established this as a real priority. We actually think that there's an opportunity here to help us grow our business." 

Let's take a closer look at the situation, and what it will mean to people using Disney's streaming services. 

Bob Iger wasn't wrong in his assessment that anti-password sharing measures can be good for business. Netflix got an immediate spike of new subscribers after announcing its clampdown, and the streamer ended up getting around 8.8 million new subscribers during the third quarter of 2023. The platform added a further 13 million during the fourth quarter, started 2024 with a record 260.3 million subscribers, and deemed its password-sharing ban a resounding success. As such, there's a pretty powerful precedent for the maneuver's potential for success. Having seen the competition's results, it's understandable if Disney is eager to get its own password-sharers into the fold. 

Disney has already started preparing for March 14. On January 25, the company updated the user agreements of the three streaming services, and they all now contain some fairly stern terms and conditions on the subject. "You agree not to impersonate or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, including using another person's username, password, or other account information, or another person's name or likeness, or provide false details for a parent or guardian," the part about password sharing lays down the law for the impending crackdown. 

It's one thing to list terms in a user agreement and another to enforce them. However, people who have been in the habit of sharing their passwords should note that the updated user agreements for Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ also state that Disney can dive into user account data to ensure the terms and conditions haven't been breached. Should the company find that the owner of an account has done so, it has the option to terminate or limit the account.

Of course, this doesn't mean that the user will risk getting booted out because a family member used their account to watch "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" in a different room. Disney seems to have paid attention to the revisions Netflix made to its own password-sharing policies between the initial announcement and the actual rollout. As such, just like Netflix, Disney's streaming services consider it acceptable for people who live in the same household to use the same password. However, users who live in different addresses must have their own, separate accounts. 

Disney has yet to elaborate on the specifics of the impending crackdown. As such, it remains to be seen whether its streaming services will offer an option to pay for account sharing on a per-person basis as Netflix does.