David Farnor | On 09, Mar 2018

Netflix is making parents’ lives just that little bit easier this week, rolling out a new update that will introduce PIN protection.

For parents, the streaming service can be something of a godsend, as it helps to keep kids occupied and entertained in an accessible, affordable way. But in an online age, the fear of children stumbling across inappropriate content is very real. Netflix has already got its own kids’ interface for children to use, which filters out adult content. But once kids get older, or in households with teenagers and toddlers, making sure the right user profile is selected can be a problem. And so the streaming giant is stepping up its parental controls.

A PIN parental control is being added for individual titles, giving parents and guardians more specific control over what children can watch.

“We understand that every family is different and that parents have differing perspectives on what they feel is appropriate to watch at different ages,” explains Netflix in a blog post.

“While we already provide PIN protection for all content at a particular maturity level for Netflix accounts, PIN protection for a specific series or film provides families with an additional tool to make decisions they are comfortable with.”

Netflix will also begin displaying more prominently its maturity level rating for a series or film once a member hits play on a title. The categories Netflix uses are All (equivalent to a U certificate from the BBFC), Guidance (equivalent to PG and, in some cases, a 12 certificate), Teen (equivalent to a 12), Mature (15) and Adult (18).

“While these maturity ratings are available in other parts of the experience, we want to ensure members are fully aware of the maturity level as they begin watching. We are also continuing to explore ways to make this information more descriptive and easier for our members to understand with just a quick glance,” adds Netflix.

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