Netflix knows you’re giving your password to the entire group chat, and they’re not happy.
According to the streamer’s terms of service, accounts are not supposed to be shared outside the “household.” So, mom and dad? Yes. Multiples of your devices? Yes. Your ex-boyfriend and his roommate? No. But this rule is, let’s say, less than enforced. (Netflix charitably characterizes this as “confusion” over proper usage of accounts.)
Last year, according to Variety, the company tried asking users to enter their log-in credentials to cull the number of unauthorized freeloaders. And now they’re trying a new tactic: asking primary account holders to pay an additional fee for additional users.
Over the next few weeks, the company will allow for the creation of up to two “subsidiary accounts,” costing around three bucks per month apiece, each with their own log-in and password. If a user has an outside-of-household profile, they can transfer it to the new account so you can keep your viewing history and recommendations, etc.
The “add an extra member” option will be tested in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. So, breathe easy and stream on…unless you’re in Chile, Costa Rica, or Peru.
“We’ll be working to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world,” the company’s director of product innovation Chengyi Long wrote in a press release posted on Wednesday, March 16.
As for how Netflix will know who is and isn’t allowed to use which account, to put it simply, hella verification codes. Well, we’ll see how this goes!
In other Netflix news, the streamer just joined the Russia boycott, renewed Never Have I Ever for a fourth and final season, and picked up Pamela Anderson’s documentary. Regardless of password-sharing, when a Netflix show hits big, it hits BIG. Squid Game is a serious awards contender, and a little thing called Bridgerton is coming back…
