Technology
PUBLISHED
9
The day we have all feared is upon us: Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing has arrived on the shores of the UK, the US, Australia, and dozens of other countries. If you have a Netflix account in these countries and you share the password with loved ones who live outside your household, it’s going to cost you.
“A Netflix account is for use by one household," a mildly threatening statement released by the streaming giant on May 23, read.
"Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are – at home, on the go, on holiday – and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices."
It followed up by explaining that users can add an extra member to a Netflix account for someone who doesn't live in the house. This will cost $7.99 a month in the US and £4.99 in the UK, with prices varying from country to country.
Users will also be able to transfer a person's profile to keep all of their viewing history and recommendations.
A 2018 survey found that 26 percent of millennials share a password from someone else’s account to stream films and TV shows.
Technically, Netflix already prohibits password sharing beyond single households. In their terms and conditions, it reads: “The Netflix service and any content accessed through the service are for your personal and non-commercial use only and may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.” However, these rules were evidently not clearly enforced before.
This latest news may come as a shock to password parasites across the world, but the move has been a long time coming.
Back in February, the video streaming platform launched measures to stop password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain, adding that it would roll out the feature worldwide later this year.
In years gone by, however, Netflix suggested that password sharing was not a concern and, in fact, it was part of why the steaming service was so popular. In 2017, the official Netflix Twitter account tweeted: "Love is sharing a password."
Why the sudden change of heart? Well, it doesn't seem to be money problems. Netflix reportedly scooped up $2.1 billion in free cash flow in the first quarter of 2023.
