Is account sharing allowed at all with the Zattoo streaming service? Sharing your own customer account with loved ones is now common. We’ll show you what to watch out for.
The video-on-demand platform Zattoo offers its customers three different packages. This includes the free version “Free” as well as the paid packages “Premium” and “Ultimate”. If you decide to give others access to this provider (known as account sharing in modern German), you should pay particular attention to a few things.
What is account sharing?
Account sharing comes from the English language and basically means sharing a customer account. Especially in connection with streaming services, the topic is repeatedly taken up and heavily discussed. Since more and more providers are appearing on the market at the moment, the curiosity of potential customers about these new offers is also increasing at the same time.
By sharing an account, you give other people access to the content of a service, but only you pay for it. But why do users share their access data with each other at all? We’ll tell you why account sharing is so convenient.
Reasons for account sharing: Save costs
The main advantage of account sharing is the cost savings. With more and more streaming services on the market, curiosity about the new content from the respective providers is understandably increasing. But hardly anyone can afford access to several customer accounts at the same time.
For example, if you own the Zattoo Ultimate package for EUR 13.99 and also pay EUR 8.99 a month for a Disney+ subscription and a Prime membership for Amazon Prime Video, that’s almost EUR 32 a month. Calculated over the whole year, that’s around 384 euros, which is quite a large sum for just one person to pay.
It is therefore not surprising that more and more people are interested in various streaming services and their content, but would rather share this access with their closest friends and relatives for cost reasons. If you all have very different subscriptions, you can complement each other perfectly.
Account sharing: the legal way
The streaming service Zattoo offers that multiple streams can be viewed simultaneously on different devices. This raises the question of why sharing a customer account seems so problematic? We will explain the differences to you.
Why are there parallel streams on multiple devices?
With the Zattoo Free package you can only use one stream. On the other hand, if you switch to the paid packages, such as the premium package, you can watch up to two simultaneous streams. With the Ultimate package you have four parallel streams at your disposal.
You only need one Zattoo account for all devices that you use at the same time. It also doesn’t matter which devices are involved. Whether it’s a smart TV or a smartphone, that’s entirely up to you.
Sharing a streaming service in a household
Sharing the service and its content is therefore not prohibited in this case, but possible without any problems. This works, for example, if you live as a family or a shared flat in one household.
The key factor here, however, is that you only use your service within this one household. The idea behind it is that families in particular watch Zattoo and don’t just have to agree on a single television program.
For example, are you parents who want to see a film on your Zattoo account, but your children don’t want to? No problem. The children can watch a children’s series at the same time via Zattoo and let their parents watch TV in the room next door. This kind of parallel streaming is clearly desirable.
What, on the other hand, is not welcomed: sharing your own account with friends and relatives who do not live in your household. In this way, the streaming service misses potential customers and, above all, contribution payments for the co-users’ own subscription.
There is always new information and supposed solutions on the subject. Large providers in particular, such as Netflix or DAZN, are looking for new ways to uncover and restrict the practice of shared customer accounts by their users. Account sharing is currently still largely tolerated for all services, but is it legal? We will explain this to you.
Legal situation
As far as the legal situation of account sharing is concerned, there are also a few things to consider with the Zattoo streaming service. Since you committed yourself to following the terms and conditions when you signed the Zattoo subscription, the consequences of violating them through account sharing also affect you.
Most streaming services are currently still very accommodating on this topic and do not place any direct restrictions on sharing your accounts. However, you may notice changes in this area in the future.
Observe the terms of use and general terms and conditions
The provider Zattoo has also expressed itself very clearly in the general terms and conditions and has issued clear rules against account sharing. In it is written:
The user is not permitted to make the access data sent or used for authentication and identification accessible to third parties or to pass them on to third parties.
From section 5 under “Obligations of the user” of Zattoo’s general terms and conditions.
It is always advisable to also observe the terms of use and general terms and conditions of your streaming service and to take the regulation into account in this case. Even if there is currently no such restriction, this can change at any time. After you have taken out a subscription, you are contractually bound to comply with precisely these regulations.
In the event of a violation, for example, you could initially receive a mere warning from your provider. This could happen if suspicious activity is detected on your customer account and different people log in to you at different locations.
If you continue to share your account afterwards, it could be that your account will simply be blocked by Zattoo and you will lose your access completely. In the worst case, you could even be sued for damages. Here the streaming service retrieves the posts that it missed by sharing your account with other users during this time.
Such examples do not yet exist, as concrete proof of account sharing remains difficult. The providers remain gentle for the time being and do not check their customers so thoroughly. However, this handling can change very quickly, especially if Netflix sets an example in the future.
How is Netflix cracking down on account sharing?
There is always news about account sharing on the Netflix streaming service. This is probably also due to the fact that Netflix is struggling with the decline in its users and wants to generate new customers in this way.
The plans of the provider Netflix stipulate that your IP address, device IDs, as well as your account activity and home network will be put to the test. This also represents a hurdle if you go on a long journey and also in this case no longer have access to your customer account.
If you have family members or friends who live far away and share your account, they will also be blocked from your streaming service. But a remedy should be provided: with a monthly surcharge, this problem should be solved very easily.
These additional fees of 5.99 euros per month have already been applied by the provider Netflix in some parts of Europe, including Portugal and Spain. This fee is also to be introduced in Germany, which is to be expected in the first half of the year.
Prevent account sharing
Do you now have concerns about sharing your private accounts with streaming services? Then you can change your access data, in particular your password, at any time. We’ll tell you how to do it.
By adjusting your access data, you can easily block people with whom you share a streaming service from your account. If you want to make sure that nobody stays logged in, you can also have all your end devices logged out in your customer account.
Change password at Zattoo
To change your password, first log in to your Zattoo customer account via a web browser under “Login”. Then go to “Settings” in the bottom left menu. You will then see an option to “Manage My Account” on the right under your account, which you can click on.
In the next step, click on “Change password” at the bottom under “Account information”. After that you will be forwarded.
Here you first enter your current password. If you don’t remember this yourself, you first go to “Forgot your password?”. Then enter your new password and repeat it again in the bottom line. Finally, press “Save” to complete the change.
However, you can only change your password via the web browser. There is still no way to access and adjust your account settings via the mobile apps and the apps on your smart TV.
You have now reset your access data at Zattoo and are armed against unwanted account sharing. If you have any further questions, you can also contact Zattoo customer service at any time by writing to them using the contact form.
Account sharing thus remains an ongoing issue that customers of streaming services will continue to deal with. So if you want to be on the safe side, you can completely prevent sharing your customer account with people outside your household in the future.
If you still don’t want to do without it, for example for cost reasons, you should always be aware of the possible consequences. Even if the measures have not yet been enforced by the respective services, this may well change in the future.
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