Netflix, the streaming giant, is taking a tougher stance against password sharing. Recently, an update to the help page revealed that the company would use information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity to detect freeloading.
This caused an uproar on social media, leading to the clarification of the company’s plans. This update will limit password sharing to users within a household, and Netflix will monitor devices used to access the platform. This move is part of Netflix’s strategy to protect its intellectual property and encourage subscribers to sign up for their own accounts.
This article explains the measures that Netflix will take to implement this strategy and the impact it will have on its subscribers.
Who Will Users Be Able to Share Their Account With?
The new measures mean that users can share their Netflix accounts with people within their households. If parents are paying, children can have their profiles and watch Netflix on their own devices within the household. However, if children move out, access to their parents’ accounts will get trickier. Netflix will detect where users are logging in from using information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity. If the company suspects a case of freeloading, it may intervene.
How Will Netflix Enforce This?
Netflix will treat devices that use a user’s account as trusted if they are connected to their home wifi regularly. Users can still take their Netflix accounts with them on their phones when they go out. However, they must bring it back home with them and log in there at least once every 31 days. If a device from outside the user’s household signs in or is used persistently, Netflix will ask for verification before it can be used to watch anything. Netflix will send a link to the email address or phone number associated with the primary account holder, containing a four-digit code that will need to be entered on the untrusted device within 15 minutes. This “may be required periodically” and will also be needed if the user is away from home for an extended period of time.
Can Users Still Share Their Accounts?
Users can share their accounts with people within their households. Netflix has been testing a feature to let users add subaccounts for up to two people they do not live within parts of South America since last year. The feature went live elsewhere for a brief time by mistake but has since been removed. Netflix has been trying to discourage account sharing by allowing users to transfer profiles from one account to another.
Why Is Netflix Doing This?
Netflix started talking tough on password sharing when the company was experiencing a lull in subscriber numbers. With more competition from the likes of Disney+ and Amazon Prime and the cost of living crisis, the company was looking for ways to reverse the trend and boost revenue. Encouraging account sharers to make the move of their own accord by letting them transfer profiles from one account to another was one such strategy. However, with the new measures, the company will be able to protect its intellectual property and encourage subscribers to sign up for their own accounts.
How to keep sharing your Netflix account without paying more
Paid shared accounts – this is the solution that Netflix has adopted for continue to fatten its coffers, you will now have to pay an extra €5.99 per month for each non-cohabiting user with whom you want to share your Netflix account.
However, if you want to cheat the system, you can always try and set up a VPN at home to continue using shared Netflix accounts from anywhere and as if you were always at your “home location”.
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