Netflix Has Issued a Warning That a Password Sharing Crackdown Is Coming Soon
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."
Watching your favorite Netflix shows from a friend’s account may soon cost you. The hotspot for popular series like Bridgerton, the latest horror movies and instantly viral reality tv shows has now decided to crack down on password sharing. Under its newly proposed rules, Netflix users who share a password with someone outside of their household may have to soon pay a fee.
You may wonder why Netflix is just now moving to implement parameters on password sharing when it was seemingly overlooked in the past. In 2016, Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings had referred to password sharing as something that the company would have to "learn to live with." At the time he said, "There’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids, so there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is."
Netflix has also said previously that password sharing aided in spreading awareness of its show offerings and brought more people to the platform. So naturally, this raises a few big questions.
First, why is Netflix stopping password sharing?
The reason for the shift in sentiments comes from a recent decrease in subscribers. On Tuesday, the company announced that it saw a loss of nearly 200,000 subscribers — an issue it has attributed to shared passwords as well as more streaming competition from services like HBO Max, Hulu, Disney+ and more.
Netflix has estimated that in addition to its roughly 222 million subscribed households, nearly 100 million additional households are benefitting from shared passwords.
How does Netflix know who's sharing a password?
Last month, Netflix rolled out a new feature that requires users to verify whether or not they are the account owner. They are then given the opportunity to authenticate the account within a short timeframe. If they are unable to produce the verification code, then they will be asked to create a new account.
When will Netflix crack down on password sharing?
It's not yet clear when the new rules will be enforced, but we will update this post when we know more. Netflix has only disclosed that it hopes to move into a new program that will discourage password sharing.
What is the Netflix password sharing fee?
The streaming giant implemented a new sharing fee feature in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru last month, charging members $2.99 in order to add on accounts for people who live outside of their household. Each account will guarantee the additional member their own personalized account, login and profile with recommendations. Netflix has said that it has plans to bring the service to other countries.
What are Netflix plans I can sign up for?
If you have made it through the bulk of this article and have decided that you are simply not willing to give up Ozark and The Ultimatum, your best bet is to invest in a Netflix plan of your own. The platform has a variety of plans you can choose from. Basic ($9.99 per month), Standard ($15.49 per month) and Premium ($19.99 per month) plans allow users to transfer the profile information of any person who does not live within their immediate household into a new account. Another option is for the additional user to open a sub account, which will maintain all of that person’s viewing history.
For more information on what is included with each plan, visit here.
You Might Also Like
