It’s been announced for several months now, Netflix is ending “wild” account sharing as it exists today. We knew that it was going to become chargeable from the spring of 2023, without having any details… until today.
Information to this have been added to the site’s FAQ: device verification, IP address, out of home… Here are the new rules that will apply for account sharing on Netflix.
Netflix
Netflix is a paid subscription application and service that provides access to an online library of several thousand films, series, documentaries, shows and TV shows.
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Downloads:
722 -
Release date :
30/01/2023 -
Auteur :
Netflix, Inc. -
Licence :
Free License -
Categories:
Video – Leisure
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Operating system :
Android, Online service All Internet browsers, Windows 10/11, iOS iPhone / iPad
The “Netflix home” defined by wifi
Let’s write it up front, account sharing is still allowed, but only for people living in the same household. If the notion of “Netflix home” is still vague in Europe, in particular used by sites such as Spliiit to offer their co-sharing services, the SVoD platform has clarified it.
She defines it as “anyone who lives with you and therefore shares your primary address”. To link your various devices to this main address – and therefore be part of the “household” – Netflix indicates the path to follow to subscribers: “Connect to the wifi network associated with this address, open the app or website and watch a program at least every 31 days.”
A process that therefore seems painless for the majority of users of the streaming service. That said, the platform specifies that “devices that identify themselves to Netflix without being associated with your primary address may be blocked”.
So what happens when you go on a trip? What about people outside the home?
A temporary code
In case the device is no longer connected to the home network via wifi, Netflix will verify the device with a temporary confirmation code. The service will send a link to the associated email address or phone with a four-digit code. This must be entered within 15 minutes to be able to use the platform on the device for seven consecutive days.
Verification by IP addresses
Netflix also explained how it intends to detect devices within a household in order to identify any fraud: “We use information such as IP address, device ID, and account activity from devices connected to the Netflix account.”
However, the FAQ announces that in the event of fraud, no financial penalty is currently envisaged. Netflix says it “will not automatically charge your CDM if you share your account with someone who does not live under your roof”.
Paid sharing outside the home
Do you want to share your account with people outside the household, and more than four people (and screens) simultaneously? Netflix announced a few days ago that this will soon be possible for a few coins.
Users will thus be able to pay a supplement to share their account with a person who does not live under the same roof as them, in the logic of co-sharing or Spotify Family. No pricing has yet been announced, but trials in Latin America suggest between €3 and €4 per person, added to the main account bill.
100 million squatters?
Greg Peters, new co-manager of the platform, is not fooled by the expected reception of this limitation of account sharing: “It’s not going to be a universally popular decision”he anticipated.
These measures come as Netflix announces that “more than 100 million homes” practice abusive account sharing: a significant loss of earnings for the company, which has every intention of whistling the end of recess. The streaming platform recently published its figures for the fourth quarter of 2022 and today totals 230.75 million subscribers worldwide.
