Here’s the crux of the article in video form
New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….
Original story (published on November 16, 2022) follows:
Disney+ has a ton of fantastic new series premiering in November, led by Disenchanted, which will debut on November 18, 2022.
However, Disney+ subscribers are unhappy after a recent email that they received.
Disney+ demanding birthday and gender details
Recently, several users have expressed their confusion over Disney+’s request for their birthdate and gender details (1,2,3,4,5).
Many have received an email from Disney+ demanding them to provide their age or birthday and gender details before December 08, 2022. Subscribers won’t be allowed to use Disney+ any longer if they don’t comply.
The Disney+ user base has expressed displeasure with this decision because they believe it violates their privacy. They think that people shouldn’t be compelled to provide personal information that they aren’t comfortable sharing.
Most users have an understanding of why they are being asked for their age, but they are dumbfounded as to why they must reveal their gender in order to continue streaming.
Additionally, they have clarified that subscribers will not be blocked from viewing any particular show or movie based on their birthdate. Only Parental Controls can be used to do that.
While providing a birthdate is mandatory for all Disney+ subscribers, they can use the ‘Prefer not to say’ option when registering their gender. Also, they can change it whenever they want to.
Furthermore, if you are using Disney+ on an iOS device running version 11, 12, or 13, you can get an unknown error message related to birthdate or gender collection.
Having said that, Disney could have reached out to its user base in a more open and transparent manner so that they wouldn’t have felt under pressure to disclose their private information.
Update 1 (November 17, 2022)
06:28 pm (IST): In response to one of the tweets, Disney support has released the following statement with respect to the issue related to gender information:
Update 2 (December 7, 2022)
08:30 pm (IST): Even though the official deadline to continue streaming without adding age or gender details was December 8, it looks like some users are being locked out of the streaming app already.
In response, Disney+ support claims that the user will be able to use the app once they enter their age and gender details.
Disney support is also instructing users to either use the web or mobile app to enter their gender and age details.
Update 3 (December 8, 2022)
09:46 am (IST): It seems Disney+ isn’t just requiring the age and gender of the primary account owner. Reports indicate that they are also requesting that data for each of the account profiles (1, 2, 3).
Update 4 (December 9, 2022)
02:57 pm (IST): A user claims that they switched to the annual plan to fix the issue where Disney Plus wasn’t letting them watch the content without providing their birthday details.
Update 5 (December 12, 2022)
12:21 pm (IST): Disney Plus support has confirmed that gender info is not required for those users who are under 18 years. However, other users will have to provide gender details.
Update 6 (December 16, 2022)
06:25 pm (IST): A user claims that they were restricted to use the app when they selected ‘I prefer not to say’ in the gender option.
However, they were able to access the app once they selected their gender.
Update 7 (December 19, 2022)
06:35 pm (IST): Disney+ support has now switched up its response to complaints for having users enter age/gender info for kids.
They said that it is required as they may use it to comply with age-related legal obligations, provide personalized content, and more.
Note: We have more such stories in our dedicated Disney Section so be sure to follow them as well.
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