Say Goodbye To Password Sharing On Hulu

Hulu is following in the footsteps of many other streaming services like Disney+ and Netflix. They have implemented restrictions on the sharing of accounts and subscriber passwords.

In a note to subscribers, the company explained that their new account would apply for new subscribers. The terms will officially take effect on March 14 this year for prior and existing subscribers.

Additionally, the note to subscribers mentioned that the streaming service is "adding limitations on sharing your account outside of your household." They added, "Unless otherwise permitted by your Service Tier, you may not share your subscription outside of your household." As outlined in the statement, household means the collection of devices associated with your primary personal residence that are used by the people who live in your residence.

These changes to Hulu’s agreement follow similar language in the Disney+ subscriber agreement from late last year. This move by Hulu and Disney+ to address password sharing and account sharing was kicked off by Disney CEO Bob Iger last summer.

"We’re actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family," Iger said during an earnings call last year. "We will roll out tactics to drive monetization sometime in 2024," he added.

Business Insider reported that Netflix’s password crackdown was successful. They said that the streaming service added almost 30 million subscribers last year after cracking down on password sharing in May of 2023.

With the news of Hulu tweaking their user agreement, many people rushed to social media to share their thoughts. One person wrote on X, "Hulu is about to crack down on password sharing. I think we owe cable an apology cause this is getting out of hand." Someone also said, "So what they’re telling us is: Cancel what you don’t need. Go back to physical media. Get a library card."