Senate passes Netflix-Facebook sharing bill

Soon, Netflix subscribers in the U.S. will be able to connect their accounts with their Facebook profiles thanks to new legislation that the Senate just passed.

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While the majority of digital media services have benefited from the social network giant, Netflix has previously been noticeably absent from Facebook’s Timeline feature due to a 1988 law that forbids video rental services from sharing a customer’s rental history. The current law, Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), was initially created for the purpose of concealing physical media rentals, but until now, Congress hasn’t clarified whether digital video rentals also fall under the law’s jurisdiction.

The new law should allow Netflix to automatically share your viewing activity with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, and other social services. The House of Representatives, which has previously passed an amended version of VPPA, has also approved the new legislation. It should be signed into law as soon as it gets a signature from the president.

This is a big win for Netflix, which has been fighting for this kind of clarification for over a year. The company has previously stated that Facebook integration helped grow subscriptions and increase usage in other regions, such as Canada, Latin America, and the U.K.

Via Bloomberg