Netflix Improves Parental Controls: Profiles Can Be Locked by PINs

Parents now have more control over what their children are watching on Netflix.

Netflix has added more controls for parents to keep a check on their kids’ viewing habits.

(Photo: The Quint)

Netflix today announced a slew of new and improved parental control measures that give parents more control over what their kids are watching.

Parents can now protect individual profiles with a Personal Identification Number (PIN). This means that kids can no longer open their parents’ profiles and watch age-restricted titles. It also means that parents can keep their viewing history private.

The feature has another benefit. If you share your account with a friend, they will no longer be able to use your profile and disrupt your viewing history and Netflix’s “For You” algorithm.

The new controls give parents the ability to hide certain content from their kids. Parents can now select what is appropriate for their kids based on their age and filter out individual titles that they don’t want their kids to see.

They can remove individual series or films, after which the blocked titles will not show up anywhere in that profile. Moreover, parents further have the ability to turn off the autoplay feature in their kids' profiles.

This is a great feature for parents who want to restrict their kids' screen time and make sure they don't sneak in that extra episode each night before going to bed.

Netflix says that these features have been introduced based on feedback from its members all over the world.

Choice and control have always been important for our members, especially parents. We hope that these improved controls will help parents make the right choices for their families.

Michelle Parsons, Kids Product Manager, Netflix

The features have also been introduced keeping in mind that a lot of children around the world are staying home now as schools are shut due to coronavirus.

This means that the time being devoted to OTT platforms like Netflix has gone up drastically.