Tasha Xi
Warn the family and friends using your account because Netflix is conducting research to test various new strategies to restrict accounts from sharing passwords. It announced a new feature that asks customers to pay an additional fee that will allow for password sharing between in-home streaming devices.
While having multiple profiles and various streams has been incredibly popular (and the main reason why people have been using streaming services in the first place), it has also led to confusion by users on when and how Netflix can be shared, according to Chengyi Long, Director of Product Innovation at Netflix. As a result, household accounts are being shared, impacting Netflix’s ability to develop excellent new content for their subscribers–basically they are losing out on a lot of money because multiple people are using one account.
Netflix has launched its tests in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, where subscribers will receive notifications regarding the allowance to add a second viewer, with an admissible lowering rate: 2,380 Chilean pesos in Chile, 2.99 U.S. dollars in Costa Rica, and 7.9 Peruvian PEN in Peru. Likewise, subscribers in the aforementioned areas will be given the capacity to save an extra user’s viewing history, recommendations & My Lists; and transfer profiles to create new accounts or an ‘Extra Member’ account that they will have to pay for.
Long also guaranteed that Netflix multiple user policy changes would only be made to customers globally if things go well with the tests in the three aforementioned countries. “We’ll be working to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world.”
This is not the first time that Netflix threatened to stop account sharing. Netflix’s shares dropped by more than 20% in January 2022 in after-hours trading following news of slowing subscribers spread. This was the lowest level they’ve reached since June 2020. A few years ago, the company was in fact testing a new pricing plan that would allow users to share an account. However, in this case, it was reported that Netflix would be able to detect multiple users sharing the same account by “checking against the video history of each member”. It is not surprising that the company would try to reduce the number of users sharing an account and not paying, but many users only choose Netflix for the ability to have multiple people sharing one account. For over 25 years, Netflix’s online streaming service made it possible for anyone to have multiple users on their accounts, and changing it now, amongst a sea of competition, is not a good look for the $5.116 billion dollar company.
In conclusion, Netflix is testing new ways to restrict accounts from sharing passwords because they are losing money by allowing multiple users on one account. This means that your family and friends may not be able to use your account, even if you share your password with them. The profiles of the family and friends on your account will not be accessible, if they don’t pay for their own account–if this testing goes well. So, it’s important to warn them about this change and ask them to create their own account, if or when the change comes. This move may help to recoup millions of dollars for Netflix, but it will also irritate loyal customers who may not be able to afford to pay for an individual accounts, and those people may choose to use another streaming service instead.
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