Netflix cracking down on password sharing
By Funnyvot Auditorial - - 5 Mins Read
Take advantage of it while you can. In South America, a new trial is being implemented to prevent inter-household account sharing on the streaming platform.
Netflix members in South America who share their password across households will be charged an additional service fee as the company cracks down on account sharing.
On Thursday, the business announced new 'tools' to fight account sharing, which would be deployed and tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. Customers with accounts outside their households were prompted to authenticate their accounts through text or email code or to start their own free 30-day trial in a test last year.
The two features being trialled include the option to “add an extra member” which allows subscribers to add a “sub account” to their existing account for a lower fee than the regular subscription: 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru.
These sub accounts will have their own login and password, as well as their own profiles and personalized recommendations.
The second option is to move your profile to a new account, which is effectively an offer to buy your own account or a sub account while keeping your lists and viewing history.
"We want to understand how valuable these two features are for members in these three countries before making changes in other countries," a Netflix spokeswoman stated.
The trial has been in the works for a year, and Netflix product innovation director Chengyi Long said in a statement that the improvements will be put to the test in South America over the next several weeks.
Ms Long stated, "We've always made things easy for folks."
Separate profiles and numerous streaming options on ordinary and premium Netflix plans have proved "very popular," but at a cost to Netflix.
Ms Long added, "They've also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared."
"As a result, accounts are being split among households, limiting our capacity to invest in exciting new television and film for our customers."
Others may label what Netflix terms "confusion" a "loophole," but customers from other countries don't have to worry about their passwords being changed by the person who pays for their subscription just yet.
"With features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans, we've always made it easy for those who live together to share their Netflix account." While they were extremely popular, they also caused some misunderstanding as to when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, household accounts are being shared, limiting our ability to invest in exciting new TV and films for our users," stated Chengyi Long, director of product innovation, in a blog post.
Netflix is awaiting the outcomes of the experiment before deciding whether or not to expand the additional features further.
Netflix offers a Standard and Premium plan for those who want to share their account with family and friends and view numerous times at the same time. There are different profiles in these types of plans, which are paid for by the host. Netflix, on the other hand, believes that people are conflating their plans with password-sharing, which they are attempting to prevent.
As membership growth slowed for the company in 2021, Netflix fell short of their new membership predictions by 2 million subscribers at the end of the first quarter, according to a Netflix letter to shareholders.
Netflix's terms and conditions restrict password sharing, but the company has been weak in enforcing the policy over time. In 2016, the business even stated that exchanging passwords was fine as long as they were not sold.
Netflix, on the other hand, has been tougher on the practice in recent years.
Last year, the corporation experimented with a prompt on users who used accounts that were not their own. Users were then requested to either verify the account with a text or email code or start their own Netflix trial if they didn't reside with the account's owner.
Getting your own Netflix account has lately become more expensive. The business boosted the rates of its streaming plans in the United States and Canada in January to help fund more original programming.