Netflix is bringing in more options for parental control. (Image source: Bloomberg)
Netflix is rolling out more stringent parental controls for content viewing by giving an option for a dedicated PIN to each individual profile in order to prevent children from accessing these. The PIN feature as it existed earlier would not apply to each individual profile, but rather to content titles based on the maturity rating.
Earlier a parent or the main account holder could set a PIN to be required to access more mature content. But with the new feature, each profile can be locked down via a dedicated PIN. This will ensure that children cannot simply access the profile of their parents. In order to create the PIN or to reset it, the account password will be needed.
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“We are constantly trying to improve our features by talking to our members in order to understand their needs and how they evolve over time. These new parental control features are further optimisations to our current suite of parental control tools,” Michelle Parsons, manager of Kids & Family Product Innovation at Netflix, said in a call with select media.
Other than the addition of the PIN to titles, Netflix will also let parents remove individual titles from a Kids’ profile as well as limit titles based on their age experience. For families with more than one child, this will ensure more individualised control based on the age of the particular child.
For instance, a parent could decide to limit the content for their 10-year old profile to one meant for older kids, and not let them access content for kids who are 13-years plus. For a toddler, they could limit the content in a similar manner at the profile level itself. Further, the new settings will allow certain titles to not show up anywhere in a child’s profile, even if the content might be pitched as one for kids.
“It was really about giving parents the flexibility to create an experience that fit their needs. I might allow for titles seven plus and below to be accessible to my child’s profile, or even 13 plus and below, but there might be some in there that I don’t feel are as appropriate. There might be things that are too scary for them, etc, which is why we are letting parents customise the experience further,” Parsons explained.
Netflix’s new feature will also give parents the option of turning off autoplay for episodes in kids profiles, which will let them exercise better control over viewing habits. For parents, this could mean a tighter grip over binge-watching by their children.
Users will be able to access these settings on their Netflix account on a desktop or on the mobile apps or even the mobile browser.
Interestingly, Netflix also revealed that ‘Mighty Little Bheem’ from India is the most-watched preschool series on the platform globally. It is also the second-most-watched kids’ series for Netflix worldwide. The show launched in April 2019 and has been watched by 27 million households across the world, including Latin America, Australia and New Zealand.