![]() In addition, Netflix will have to tread lightly around defining password sharers to avoid wrongly tagging people as abusers, such as family members temporarily living away from home.Īn unwillingness to act against this group of users would probably save millions of people from Netflix's crackdown - at least to begin with. ![]() It's also unclear how long Netflix would allow those watching on a shared account to maintain access if the primary account holder chooses not to pay the additional fee. Some account holders will undoubtedly be surprised when they receive news from Netflix that their passwords are being shared. Discovery, Comcast 's NBCUniversal and Paramount Global, will likely not set their own plans until after reviewing Netflix's password-sharing reforms. Other owners of streaming services, such as Disney, Warner Bros. No major streamer has ever cracked down on password sharing before. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Most recently, Netflix rolled out account-sharing features in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, and (now) the United States.Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit ![]() In July 2023, Netflix rolled out the option to move a profile to an existing account rather than to a new one. Later, Netflix announced a new “Profile Transfer” tool that makes it easy for password sharers to transfer all their Netflix profile data, including their watch lists, histories, and recommendations, to a new account. In March 2022, Netflix’s efforts to stem password sharing became more official, with the company announcing an option for account holders in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru to create reduced-priced “sub accounts” for up to two people outside their household.įour months later, Netflix took a different tack, rolling out an “add a home” feature that let Netflix subscribers in five Latin American countries “buy” more homes in which they–or others–could use the same Netflix account. A “verify later” option let users keep streaming even if they didn’t have the code, but still, the test certainly raised eyebrows. The move followed a growing series of password-sharing tests that began in 2021, when the streamer began asking users to verify their Netflix accounts using a four-digit code sent to the account holder. While the email stops short of warning users not to share their Netflix accounts without paying extra, it was clear that the Netflix password sharing crackdown had officially begun. The email details how you can transfer a profile to a new account, as well as the option of paying to share your account. Starting back in May, Netflix began emailing users in the United States and other regions who are sharing their accounts with people outside their households. With all the big players fighting tooth-and-nail over new subscribers, streamers like Netflix aren’t giving password sharers a free pass anymore, and there are early signs that Netflix’s password-sharing crackdown is actually working in terms of adding paying users. Today, it’s up against the likes of Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Peacock, and Apple TV+. Back in 2016, Hastings could afford to be cavalier about password sharing because the streamer faced little in the way of serious competition. The streaming landscape has also changed dramatically in the past few years. While Netflix hasn’t quantified how much revenue it may have lost from password sharers, a Los Angeles Times report estimates the practice may have cost streamer and pay-TV operators up to $9.1 billion in 2019, a figure that could balloon to $12.5 billion by 2024. Password sharing was partly to blame, the company said. By early 2022, that growth had stalled, with Netflix reporting that its subscriber base had shrunk for the first time in a decade. Of course, Hastings’ 2016 comments came in the context of explosive subscriber growth for Netflix. To be clear, Hastings wasn’t actually encouraging password sharing, but he didn’t seem interested in a crackdown, either, noting that account sharing “really hasn’t been a problem.” As recently as 2016, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings called the practice a “positive thing” because so many password sharers eventually got their own accounts. Netflix didn’t always have a problem with subscribers sharing their passwords.
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