Netflix announces new parental controls and privacy features

Due to the ongoing pandemic and self-isolation practices among families worldwide, kids are spending time more time than eever on video streaming services as schools around the world have closed, or gone online, until further notice by governments. This has led to problems with sites like Netflix, which has content for all age groups, including some movies/TV shows which are unsuitable for children under a certain age. In Netflix’s recent blog, the video streaming service announced new parental controls which can make it easier for parents to monitor their kids’ activity on the platform, including the ability to remove movies and tv shows from the profile altogether.

In the official blog post on Tuesday, Netflix revealed several new controls which are now in service. Since not all families are the same and have different rules about what their kids are allowed to watch, these options can easily be used to cater to each specific family’s needs.

One option removes any movie or tv show from your child’s screen altogether and doesn’t pop up again on it when your kids are browsing. Once in the settings, you can simply search for the title you want to block and click to filter it out. Another feature in this update is the ability for parents to filter out content based on ratings. The filters now feature country based rating scales so that movies and shows from various markets can be easily blocked.

To keep your kids from meddling with these settings, a PIN can be set up in settings in their profile. Only users with that PIN can access these settings. Parents can review the regulations for each profile on the Netflix account in the settings, to make sure that they’re all set as they’re supposed to be. From here, parents can monitor what their kids are watching as well.

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

— Michelle Parsons (Kids Product Manager, Netlflix)

You can enable these new controls now by visiting the account settings in your Netflix app or on the desktop site. Here’s how it’s done.

  1. Click the “EDIT” button under your kid’s Netflix profile.Netflix Edit Profile
  2. Enter your Netflix password.Netflix Viewing Restrictions
  3. Select the Maturity Ratings for the profile.Netflix Restrictions
  4. Add titles you want to remove from their screen.Netflix Kinds Profile

If you want to set up a profile lock so that your screen can not be accessed, here’s how you can do it:

  1. Select Profile Lock for the profile you want to lock.Netflix Profile Settings
  2. Enter Password, then set up a Pin for the screen, then save.Netflix Profile Lock3. View activity can also be accessed from settings.Netflix Activity4. Save all changes.

You can even put a PIN on your profile so your kids do not access it to view content.

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