Netflix has become too expensive, so it isn’t surprising that many people share their accounts. 15% of Netflix streamers are actually using a friend’s password to watch the latest movies, TV shows, and documentaries on Netflix. There have been recent steps being taken by the company to clamp down on accounts shared outside of a single household, and now it looks like the free ride is over.
Netflix’s new features
Netflix is testing some new features in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica, and it appears that these features may become the official method of sharing Netflix accounts with friends and family. “Add an Extra Member” lets you add up to two additional Netflix accounts to your main account and calculates a reduced monthly price.
This isn’t like a normal profile – each account has its own login, password, and recommendations. The price range could be between $2 or $3 of added price per account depending on the region. Secondly, you can transfer your information from a profile to either a full account or to one of its new sub-accounts. This allows customers to move to an independent paid profile without having to lose the access to their recommendations.
Users will be able to easily move to an account that they will pay for with both of these new features. The move is likely part of a broader crackdown on shared logins/passwords in the near future.
A screen started appearing after login for some users about a year ago telling them they had to live with the account owner in order to use the service. There is probably not much benefit from these new region-locked features in helping the current situation; it might just be the first step toward further restricting access to the streaming service’s content through shared logins in the future.
Sharing passwords was never allowed
Sharing passwords was always against Netflix’s terms of service — precisely against section 4.2 — however, the company has never been serious about enforcing it. This might change soon.
