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Netflix just made nice improvements to its parental controls

Netflix just made nice improvements to its parental controls

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Disney’s coming for Netflix’s lunch money

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Netflix’s newest updates give parents more granular control over the content their kids watch. They can now set custom PINs for specific movies and TV shows, regardless of age recommendations. So if you think Moana isn’t appropriate for your 10-year-old, you could have a PIN lock the movie. Parents can already set broad PIN protections that lock up content at specific maturity levels.

The company also says it’s going to display these maturity levels at the start of each program, so parents are fully aware of what their kids are consuming from the onset. These features will roll out over the coming months.

Netflix’s parental control expansion seems to be timed with the impending launch of Disney’s own streaming service, which clearly targets parents and their kids. Netflix inked a streaming deal with Disney in 2012, but it didn’t go into effect until 2016. Disney has said it will end the deal beginning with films released in 2019, and Netflix will keep older films through the end of that year. Clearly, Netflix knows it needs to beef up its features for parents and, eventually, create and provide compelling enough content to keep parents on the platform.