LOS ANGELES, California – The days when you share your Netflix account with friends and family can be numbered. The streaming giant appears to be running a test to crack password sharing.
As first reported by The Streamable, a select few Netflix users began receiving a message this week asking them to verify their accounts via email or text message. If they can’t, they’ll 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 watching,” the message read according to 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 see that it might be a bit more difficult to ‘borrow’ someone’s password. Https://t.co/ZN3GTECdKR pic.twitter.com/uMucB4C43l
– Michelle Manafy (@michellemanafy) March 12, 2021
Netflix has responded to the crackdown in a statement saying, “This test is designed to ensure that people using Netflix accounts have permission to do so.”
While it is common today to share passwords with others, especially during the pandemic, Netflix’s terms of use explicitly state that the service and its content are “ for personal and non-commercial use only and should not be shared with anyone. outside your household. . “
Netflix has been the king of streaming for years, but with more and more platforms popping up, customers have to choose which services to keep paying for, and the company is likely trying to maintain its dominance in the market.
A survey by research firm Magid found that about a third of subscribers on platforms such as Netflix share their password with someone outside their household. With so many services to pay for, people often split the burden, with each paying for a couple and sharing their bills.
As for Netflix pricing, after a 30-day trial, you can pay $ 8.99 a month for the streamer’s ‘basic’ plan, which only allows one screen to stream at a time. The next plan, “Standard”, costs $ 13.99 per month and Netflix can be streamed on two screens at the same time. The company’s ‘premium’ plan costs $ 17.99 per month and can stream four screens simultaneously.