Netflix account sharing crackdown has officially begun after the company posted details of its first anti-password sharing policies on its site. The new rules are bound to trigger the outrage of many subscribers, their friends, family, and other account beneficiaries.
While Netflix's plans to eliminate indiscriminate password sharing all across the globe had been hinted at by the company during the first quarter of 2021, exactly how the streaming giant would accomplish that was a mystery, especially after a series of messy experiments in some Latin American countries. Nevertheless, if obscure information was precisely what threw off users who test-ran Netflix's first efforts against password sharing, the first fully detailed phase is now underway.
On the Costa Rican section of Netflix's official Help Center, a few new sections were added to the “Sharing Your Account” topic, with the main warning being that “People who aren't part of your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix.” There is still the possibility of adding more members “for less than the price of our Basic plan,” though Netflix did not name a specific number for that extra charge. The added member account will have to be created within the same country as the primary owner, so it’s unclear if this will affect cross-border account sharing.
These caveats do not cover the full extent of Netflix's anti-password rules. Devices may be blocked from using an account depending on a user or group of users' login patterns. For example, a device “that is not part of your primary location, or if your account is accessed persistently from another location.” The governing rule demands users connect or watch content from their primary location at least once every 31 days, something that Netflix will check using several methods such as monitoring IP addresses, device IDs, and general account activity.
As stated before by CEO Ted Sarandos, Netflix expects backlash from users who could cancel their subscriptions due to the tight account-sharing policies that will be implemented soon. Whether these rules will be the exact ones imported to the United States and Netflix's other big markets remains to be seen, but it’s safe to assume at least some will make it or, at least, that is the streamer’s intent.
Some users won’t mind the extra charge, and the number of devices available for simultaneous viewing won’t change for any plans. However, until Netflix sorts out pricing and anti-password sharing rules enter other countries, users won't be able to decide if Netflix's new content for 2023 is worth the hassle.
Source: Netflix