President Obama on Thursday paved the way for Netflix customers to share what movies and TV shows they’ve viewed through Facebook and other social networks, by signing into law legislation that removes previous restrictions preventing video rental companies from sharing customer data.
Netflix users in the U.S. looking to show off their esteemed viewing tastes to their friends and followers on social media will have to wait a bit longer, however. A Netflix spokesperson told TPM on Thursday that social features aren’t coming to America until “later this year”:
“We are pleased that the President has signed the bill. We plan to introduce social features for our US members later this year. It is too early to get into details.”
Netflix has previously said they intended to introduce social features for U.S. members in 2013, after the bill was signed into law.
Still, Netflix has since 2011 offered Facebook integration in Canada and Latin America, and when it launched in the UK in early 2012, it immediately offered Facebook login as an option.
But the rental company has held back on introducing similar features in the U.S., in addition to the ability to watch movies in Facebook itself as Warner Brothers offers, due to the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act’s restrictions stating that any rental company that shares its customers’ history can be sued. (Netflix competitor Hulu has offered Facebook sharing since 2011 and was sued last year under the VPPA.)
Despite that, Netflix already has a Facebook “app” that U.S. users can access through the Facebook App Center. It includes screenshots of the ability to share Netflix recommendations on Facebook, but does not yet allow users to take advantage of these features and simply redirects to Netflix’s website when accessed.
