Amid COVID-19 lockdown, Netflix brings crucial parental control features

Due to the pandemic COVID-19 outbreak, most of the world is under lockdown. To stem the further spread of the coronavirus, corporate companies, commercial activities and educational institutions are shut down.

While most adults are working online to finish projects with tight deadlines at home, it is an arduous task, particularly for working couples, to control the children from doing mischiefs. So, they give their phones or log in details of an OTT (Over-The-Top) services such as Netflix and others to keep them occupied.

However, if proper parental control is not set, children may stumble on age-inappropriate contents. In a bid to avoid these circumstances, Netflix has brought in new tools and options for parents to block content by titles and also ratings to restrict access to the children.

Netflix profiles' home page

“Choice and control have always been important for our members, especially parents. We hope that these improved controls will help parents make the right choices for their families,” Michelle Parsons, Kids Product Manager, Netflix said.

New parental control features coming in the Netflix include:
Profile protection: Now, Netflix users can protect their profile with PIN number so children will not get access to any adult content or recommendation

Profile lock feature on Netflix

Filter by titles: Now parents can filter out titles that are not appropriate for their children's age

Maturity Ratings and Title Restriction on Netflix

Remove content: Parents can also go in their's kid's profile and remove individual series or films by title. When this filter is used, the blocked title(s) won’t show up anywhere in that profile
Profile and Parental Control Hub: Here, parents can easily review each profile’s setting using the “Profile and Parental Controls” hub within account settings

Profile and Parentals Control Hub on Netflix

Track kids' activities: Parents can see what their children have been watching within the profile created for them
Auto-play off/on: Now, parents can also turn off auto-play of episodes in kids' profiles. This will come handy to protect the children from binge-watching content and develop TV addiction.

Watch activity for Kids

“The Family Online Safety Institute believes that online safety is everyone’s concern - from kids to grandparents. Netflix’s parental controls give parents and families the ability to shape the experience they want their kids to have on Netflix, and help keep them safe,” said Stephen Balkam, Founder & CEO, Family Online Safety Institute.

Here's the Netflix video on parental control features:

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