Q: I recently rented a home and used several of my streaming accounts on their TV and forgot to log out. Do I need to change all my passwords?
A: If you’ve stayed in a rental home, hotel room or Airbnb that provides streaming options, you’ve likely seen accounts from previous guests still logged in.
The potential issues that can arise from not logging out can range from minor to major, depending upon the service.
At the very least, their viewing choices will invade your watch history and alter the algorithm for future recommendations.
If there’s a limit to the number of devices that can be logged into your account at once, it could prevent you from using it on one of your own devices.
Future guests could also run up charges on your account for items that require additional payments, such as pay-per-view or premium content, and it can expose private details of your account to strangers.
In any case, you should take action to prevent future use of your accounts.
Remote sign out
You don’t have to go through the headache of changing all your passwords, as every service provides the ability to review and remove devices that are currently logged into your accounts.
You’ll typically find this option in the “Settings,” Security” or “Devices” section of each streaming service and it’s generally best to do it via a web browser instead of the app.
Here are the steps for some of the more popular services:
Netflix — Sign into your account via a browser, click on the three lines in the upper left and select “Account.” Scroll down and select “Manage access and devices” to display a list of devices currently signed in to your account.
You can either sign out of a specific device, or at the bottom, choose “Sign Out of All Devices,” which will mean that you’ll need to sign back into your devices as well.
HBO/MAX — In either the Max app or via a browser, click on your profile icon, then choose “Account,” then “Devices.” As long as you are signed in to an adult profile, you can sign out of individual devices or “All Devices.”
YouTube/YouTube TV — Sign in to your Google account via a browser, then tap your profile icon in the upper right corner and select “Manage your Google Account.”
Select “Security,” scroll down to the “Your devices” section and click on the “Manage all devices” link below the list of devices.
This will show you every device with a general location and a date of access, which should make it easier to identify the TV in the rental property.
This control panel allows you to manage all of your Google accounts in one place, not just your streaming services.
Amazon Prime Video — Sign into your Prime Video account (not your regular Amazon Prime account) via a browser, click on your account icon (upper right), then on “Account & Settings.”
Click on the “Devices” option in the horizontal menu at the top to display the list of devices along with the “Registration date,” which signals when you successfully added that device to your account.
Ken Colburn is founder and CEO of Data Doctors Computer Services. Ask any tech question on Facebook or Twitter.
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