For anyone still using someone else’s Netflix account, Netflix is bringing a new feature to put an end to it. The streaming platform is testing a feature that intends viewers to verify they share the same household with the account holder to limit the password sharing. This test is to stop the spread of passwords among people to prevent fraud.
“If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching,” the screen reads, according to Streamable.com, which first reported the test.
The streaming platform wants to ensure that the owner and the users of an account live in the same household to limit screen sharing. The test has been rolled out to some customers using Netflix’s TV app. The company’s terms of service also added that it “may not be shared with individuals beyond your household.”
The major reason behind the test is the fact that streaming services proliferate, and more people share passwords and services.
A Netflix spokesperson said, “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.”
When a Netflix user chooses their profile on a shared account, a question box pops up asking them to verify their account by confirming by a text or email sent to them. Viewers are given the option to verify their identity through a code sent to the Netflix account’s owner. If the user is not an authorized user of the account, Netflix gives a prompt to set up a new account with a 30-day free trial.
Netflix has benefited the most as the streamer, which added about 37 million new customers last year, reaching around 203.67 million subscribers in 2020.
Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings said back in 2016, “no plans on making any changes” to limit the password sharing. Reed also added that “password sharing is something you have to learn to live with because there’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids …. so there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is.”
Netflix confirmed the test but didn’t confirm the location or the number of users who were a part of this test. We need to wait and watch if this testing feature is going to be universally accepted.
