Netflix announces new measures to end account sharing

If you have a shared account with your friends or family, it seems like that will no longer be legal unless you all live under the same roof. At least, according to Netflix’s terms.

According to the Pew Center of Internet and Tecnology, approximately 2 out of 5 adults online have shared their accounts for VOD platforms and services with friends or family. In the Millenial generation that number is even higher: 56% of adults online between the ages of 18 and 29 have done the deed.

Netflix currently offers three different subscription plans for their service, and of those only 2 have the ability to stream simultaneously on different devices. The Standard plan, the one in the middle of the prices, goes for $15.49 USD per month and allows you to stream in up to two devices at the same time. The Premium service costs $19.99 USD per month, but increases that amount to 4 screens. However, unless this is done inside of the same household, the service will no longer allow you to go unpunished.

If sharing wont stop, it’s going to get harder to do.

The tech giant has left it clear that starting in 2023, only users inside the same home will be allowed to log in to the same account. For those outside of your house that log in, they’ll receive warnings and verification alerts, and you will be prompted to perform a change of address. Should the sharing continue, it seems like Netflix will start charging users an additional cost. Through ongoing trials of this new feature in Peru, Chile and Costa Rica, this recharge will apparently be $2.99 USD per instance (meaning for every extra person outside of your home).

The official help page on the service now specifies that “people who do not live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix”. The section goes on to explain that it’s really easy to set up a new account, adding an offer to “change plans or cancel your subscription at any moment”.

From now on, the company will verify accounts through IP Address, device IDs and account activity. This may cause an issue for those who use VPNs to access content not available in their region: should the IP Address change unexpectedly, users will need to verify all of their information to continue using the service. It’s very possible that this will let Netflix ban accounts more effectively if they ever decide they no longer like the way people use their streaming platform.