HBO Max

Is HBO Max safe?

Yes for most people. HBO Max is a subscription app full of licensed shows and films, with no messaging, no uploads from strangers and reasonable controls for children. We score it 62/100, between Netflix (65) and Disney+ (60).

The catch is data. Apple's privacy label looks mild, but the privacy policy behind it allows much more: ad profiles fed by other companies, sharing with partners for their own marketing and recording of how you move through the app. Account security is also basic, with no two-step login.

What the privacy label leaves out

Apple's label for HBO Max has no "Data Used to Track You" section, the same as Netflix. It lists coarse location, email address, user and device IDs, product interaction and advertising data as used for third-party advertising, all linked to your identity. Google Play says the app shares user IDs, approximate location and device IDs with other companies for advertising.

The Warner Bros. Discovery privacy policy, last updated on 9 July 2025, covers HBO Max along with CNN, WB Games and the rest of the group. It goes further than the label in four ways:

• Advertising partners and data providers may supply "information that is inferred or derived" from your activity at businesses that have nothing to do with WBD.
• WBD may disclose data to business partners and third parties "for their own purposes, including marketing products or services to you".
• Usage data includes "recordings of your interactions with our Services, which may include mouse clicks, mouse movements, keystrokes, and page scrolling", and the policy says using the service counts as consent to that.
• In limited cases it collects health, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation data, mainly for research studies.

Our rule is to score privacy on the broader of the label and the policy, so HBO Max gets 50 here, not the higher score the label alone would suggest.

Who owns HBO Max now

On 6 October 2026 Skydance Corporation, formerly Paramount Skydance, completed its takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. HBO Max and Paramount+ now have the same owner. For the moment HBO Max keeps its own app, help centre and the WBD privacy policy. If the two services merge, the policy and the score may change.

Is HBO Max safe for children?

Mostly, once you set it up. An account can hold up to five profiles, either Adult or Kids. Kids profiles show titles up to a rating group you pick, PG and TV-PG by default, and get their own home screen. They cannot open the password or subscription settings. Two locks stop a child from wandering into an adult profile:

• Kid-Proof Exit asks for a 4-digit Parent Code before anyone can leave the Kids profile. The account has one Parent Code.
• Profile PIN puts a 4-digit code on an adult profile, and HBO Max emails the account owner when it is added or changed.

HBO Max also follows stricter parental controls set on the device itself, but not those set with a TV provider. On the Basic with Ads plan, ads still run during kids and family titles, marked with bumpers at the start and end of each break. Live events carry ads on every plan.

Account security and phishing

We found no reported breach of HBO Max accounts. That said, the protections are thin. You sign in with an email and password, or with a mobile number and a 6-digit text code, and there is no authenticator app or other second step at login. We also found no bug bounty or vulnerability disclosure programme for HBO Max on HackerOne or Bugcrowd.

The bigger day-to-day risk is phishing. HBO Max's help centre says it never asks for your password or payment details by text, email, social media or phone. It lists the warning signs: requests to buy gift cards, prepaid cards or crypto, "exclusive" offers, payment through another website, and links to addresses you have not seen before.

How to use HBO Max safely

1. Give each child a Kids profile, turn on Kid-Proof Exit and add a Profile PIN to every adult profile.
2. Use a unique password of at least 10 characters, since there is no two-step login.
3. Never sign in or pay through a link in a message. Open the app or type hbomax.com yourself.
4. In US states with privacy laws, file a Do Not Sell or Share request on the WBD privacy centre and set your choices on the Ad Choices page.
5. If you want no ads during children's shows, pick the Standard or Premium plan.

How we scored it

The regulatory record (87) is HBO Max's strongest factor, with no fine or order against the app. Scams and harmful content (78) comes next: licensed content, no contact between users and detailed Kids profiles. Privacy (50) is the weakest, because the group-wide policy allows outside ad data, sharing with partners and session recording that the App Store label does not show. Security (58) reflects a clean breach record but no two-step login and no public disclosure programme.