Netflix Party Safety: Is Netflix Party Safe to Use?

Gone are the days when house parties were exciting. 2020 has taught us how boring it can be. However, it is the safest option to stay at home and find means to keep yourself entertained. Apart from playing games and listening to music virtually, what else can you do? Can you enjoy the same movie or show with your friends together? The answer is yes, you can.

As per a Forbes article released in March 2020, this is one of the best ways to constrain the virus. We are social creatures, and we have to socialize, but through alternative methods.

Think beyond Zoom calls and take your virtual meeting to another level through a Netflix Party. We are sure that you have already heard about it. Whether it is your long-distance relationship, your friends, or siblings who live abroad – you can bring in joy by watching the same shows through Netflix Party. If you have no clue what we are talking about, this will be an interesting read for you!

How does Netflix Party work?

For quarantine fun, you need a few minutes to start it. You can ask your friends or family to join by sending them a link. All they need to do is accept the invitation. The most important point to note here is all the users joining the party should have their own accounts and are not shared with other members joining the party. To know how to join Netflix Party, click for more info here.

If you have a MacBook, here is how you can host this fabulous party to stay away from the quarantine blues. Firstly, go to Chrome Web Store and download the Netflix Party Chrome extension. Use Netflix on the browser and find the show/movie you want to play!

After that, click on the red NP button next to the address bar. If you want to manage it by yourself, then click on “Only I have control”.

Click on “start the party”, copy the URL and invite your friends.

Is Netflix Party safe? 

This is a billion-dollar question and quite common too. It often comes to people’s minds when they are planning to host a virtual Netflix party. You mustn’t share your personal information with others when you are hosting a Netflix party.

But yes, there is a certain amount of risk, and we do not deny that. And here are some tips:

• Check the privacy policy before installing the NP extension. Your friends should be careful too and must not share the link with anyone else outside your group. There is no password protection, and you must keep that in mind.
• If your kids are having a virtual party, then abide by the protocols – he or she should be 13 years or older. Netflix party states this rule very clearly. Try to monitor what your kids are watching from time to time by enabling parental controls. Since kids tend to be quite susceptible, it would be best to tell your child not to share the link with others. They should be supervised at all steps. But yes, let them have some fun.
• Netflix Party uses trackers, which enables it to analyze browsing behavior! But this shouldn’t be a problem if you are okay with targeted advertisements. However, if you are okay with taking the risk, go ahead and enjoy shows with your friends. It even allows you to discuss them and share your views the way you did at the theatre before the pandemic hit.

• In this regard, you should note that Netflix Party is not officially a Netflix product and that you can use it through Google Chrome. It is a third-party add-on, which makes it somewhat risky.
• You can even get exposed to mysterious links. This is risky if your kid is having a virtual party as the videos might not be apt for his or her age.
• The Netflix party doesn’t abide by the feature, “Do not track”, which makes it lesser reliable. We have even heard about some party groups being threatened. So you might need to check the same.
• You should know Netflix Party can use your information and even track your location.
• Make sure you apply all the basic privacy ways to improve your computer privacy.

In this regard, you have to remember that it doesn’t work on other browsers such as Safari or Firefox. You can’t use it on mobiles or tablets as well.

Now that you know it all take your call after considering every point. No matter what, stay indoors and stay safe.