LOS ANGELES, California – The days of sharing your Netflix account with friends and family may be numbered. The streaming giant appears to be testing to crack down on password sharing.
As The Streamable first reported, a select number of Netflix users began receiving a message this week asking them to verify their accounts via email or text message. If they can’t, they will be asked to start their own account with a 30-day free trial.
“If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep looking,” reads the message, according to the screenshots. It is not yet clear whether users must be on the same IP address to be considered in the same household.
Earlier this week, some Netflix subscribers began to notice that it might be a bit more difficult to “borrow” someone’s password. pic.twitter.com/uMucB4C43l
– Michelle Manafy (@michellemanafy) March 12, 2021
Netflix has commented on the crackdown in a statement, saying: “This test is designed to help ensure that people who use Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.”
Although it is now common to share passwords with others, especially during the pandemic, Netflix’s terms of use explicitly say that its service and any of its content “are for personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with people outside your home. . “
Netflix has been the king of streaming for years, but with the emergence of more and more platforms, customers have to choose which services to keep paying for and the company is likely to try to maintain its dominance in the market.
A survey by research company Magid found that roughly a third of subscribers to platforms like Netflix share their password with someone outside of their home. With so many services to pay for, people often share the load, each paying for a few and sharing their bills with each other.
As for Netflix pricing, after a 30-day trial, you can pay $ 8.99 a month for the streamer’s “basic” plan, where only one screen can be streamed at any given time. The next “standard” plan costs $ 13.99 per month and Netflix can stream on two screens at the same time. The company’s “premium” plan costs $ 17.99 a month and four screens can be streamed at the same time.