Since March, as we have already told you, Netflix stops sharing passwords.
But in what sense? No problem: the faqs on the official site will clarify everything.
Here: not exactly. Because the faq page on sharing accounts, evidently published too hastily the first time, has been modified. With the obvious consequence of having generated doubts in consumers. In addition, in the past few hours there have been disruptions globally for users of the platform.
Let’s start with what we know with a fair amount of confidence, which is what’s going to change regarding Netflix and password sharing starting in March.
And let’s see why many have found it difficult to navigate the faqs related to sharing accounts.
Netflix: stop sharing passwords since March
In the first quarter of this year, possibly in March, Netflix will change account sharing.
More precisely, sharing passwords with people outside the “household” will be more complex. And it is likely that there will be an additional cost (something like 4 euros) for sharing a single season ticket in multiple places.
The company said that “With the introduction of paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with. As is the case today, all members will be able to watch on the go, whether on a TV or mobile device.”
Netflix and account sharing: what’s new in March and today’s confusion
The household nucleus
By “household” Netflix, as it is written on the faq page in English, means the set of “people who live in the same place as the account owner”. The “main location” of the account is associated with the household.
Thanks to the tracking of the IP address and the IDs of the various devices, the devices that access from the main position at least once every 31 days will be counted as belonging to the household (but the frequency, as we will see, has not been confirmed).
And the others? “People outside your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix.”
Device verification
Device verification will trigger when “the account is being used continuously from an external location.” Here we are at Netflix’s precautions on sharing passwords.
A link will be sent to the email address (or phone number) associated with the main account holder, and you will need to enter the 4-digit verification code within 15 minutes. The check will be repeated every 7 days (but again, the frequency is in doubt).
On the faq page we read that “verification is necessary to confirm that it is a device authorized to use the account.” So, in short: that the account belongs to someone in the household, away from home for work, study or leisure reasons.
A different case is that of simultaneous vision. Here the number of devices (provided they are part of the same household) changes according to the tariff plan subscribed.
The confusion of the FAQs
With the clampdown on password sharing, Netflix evidently wants to at least partially iron out the “hole” caused by the fact that, globally, around 100 million users use the platform with other people’s credentials.
The fact is that in recent days the company has published a faq page with the announcement of new measures against, let’s call it, wild sharing. After which, a very short distance later, the page was removed. And Netflix has let The Verge know that it is not yet clear how it will act to counter the widespread habit. He declared that to date the restrictions, on an experimental basis, are being adopted only in South America, and that in the first quarter of the year they will be extended to other countries.
Two figures, meanwhile, have disappeared from the page: A reference to the fact that an account is considered part of the household if it logs in from its primary location at least every 31 days. And the frequency of checking suspicious accounts every 7 days.
The disservices
Meanwhile, in the evening hours of Wednesday 1 February (from 19.00 to 22.00 Italian time) there was a peak of access problems to the platform globally.
The company hasn’t released a statement on the matter, but there’s more than one suspicion of a correlation between Netflix’s down and the next crackdown on password sharing.
And, needless to say, there have been some “coincidence” memes on the Net.