Photo: Rights Alliance

Every third Dane shares passwords to content services with others

Jun 13, 2022 | Analysis

13. June 2022

Passwords for content services flow between Danish friends and family. This is contrary to the terms of the services and therefore a focus area for the Rights Alliance.

Sharing your password for a content service with a friend can feel like a simple service to many. However, according to the terms of the content services, it is only allowed to share your password with people within your own household. Nevertheless, 37% of Danes share their password for content services with others outside their household, according to a recent survey conducted by Wilke for Rights Alliance.

The extent of password sharing is therefore alarmingly high among Danes, and gradually on a par with other forms of illegal consumption of content.

Half are willing to pay for subscription

Although it is contrary to the terms of the content services, the report shows that Danes to a great extent share passwords with close relationships such as parents, children or friends with whom they do not share a household. It is striking that as many as 46% of those who share passwords with others, would subscribe themselves if they could not share. The widespread password sharing can therefore not be attributed to a reluctance to pay for content, but rather to the fact that it is easy and that there are no visible consequences of sharing passwords.

Maria Fredenslund, Director of the Rights Alliance, says:

Sharing passwords may seem harmless to the individual user, but it is not allowed, and it affects the entire food chain when content is not paid for. It is therefore crucial that the industry together develops solutions against password sharing and prep users to pay for the content they watch.

57% know that password sharing is not allowed

According to the Wilke survey, 57% of respondents are aware that sharing passwords with others outside the household is not allowed. Although it testifies a need for information, it also shows that many people do not take the rules seriously. In regard to password sharing is there a need for information, setting examples and generally making it harder for the user to share their passwords. The user’s willingness to pay also indicates that much more content can be financed in the future if the content services get more paying users.