Netflix started testing ways to prevent that subscription to the streaming service is shared other than the family in some countries. Among these: Peru, Chile and Costa Rica from March. Anyone who wants to share their account with someone (for example their child who is studying away from home) can do so by paying a monthly surcharge. But the new shared Netflix subscription it is creating confusion, with many users not knowing how to behave.
Netflix shared subscription, confusion in South America
Netflix wants to increase the number of subscribers to the platform. And to do this, it is examining various hypotheses, including possible cheaper subscriptions but with advertising included. But one option that management seems to believe a lot in is the block the sharing of passwords within the platformto. For Netflix, you can have a single streaming subscription within the family. But sharing the account with friends, acquaintances and anyone else to share the costs is not (anymore) good.
For this reason, it has started some tests to block this phenomenon in some markets. The technology recognizes that the user is using a account outside the family and invites them to pay an extra amount to continue sharing. To unblock viewing with the Netflix shared subscription, these countries needed a further validation code. Among these countries there are Chile, Costa Rica and Peru. And it was in this country that Rest of World conducted a survey to assess the impact of the phenomenon.
No formal notice
The newspaper spoke to over a dozen Netflix users in Peru. Many of them would not have been formally informed of the policy change, neither with an email nor with a notification in the Netflix app. This in itself has helped to create confusionwith some users who did not know about the new legislation (or at least said they were not).
Furthermore, Rest of World reports that Netflix would have applied the new policies differently depending on the users. In fact it appears that some users report having just ignored the pop-up which invited to provide an account validation, without any repercussions. One user even reported not having received any notifications, continuing to share the account without any problems.
Netflix shared subscription: how big is the family?
Another problem that has generated confusion regarding the shared subscription of Netflix concerns the very concept of “family“(Defined in English by”household“, The family home). In fact, several users also considered part of the household family members who live away from home.
Netflix seems aware that not all countries define the concept of family in the same way: if for the United States it concerns the nuclear family, in other countries there is a more extensive concept. So much so that an anonymous customer told Rest of World that Netflix has them provided a code to unlock the account for a family member living away from hometo. So even outside the walls of your own home, sharing your Netflix account may still be possible.
However, the spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka told The Verge that “although we have been working on the paid shared account for over 18 months, we have been clear for five years that a Netflix account is for people who live together in a house “.
The spokesperson reiterated that “The millions of members who are actively sharing an account in these countries have received an email notification given the importance of the change. We are increasing notifications within the platform more slowly. We are pleasantly surprised by the response “.
So it seems Netflix has a clear idea about it. Although the change involves a lot of people, they are a little more confused about the dynamics.
Will it arrive in Italy? And how much will it cost?
In countries where the paid Netflix shared subscription is being tested, the cost of linking a separate account is much lower than a full subscription. This is to make the payment look like an offer – a way to comply at a discounted price. In fact it costs € 1.99 in Peru, while a little more in Chile and Costa Rica.
Netflix’s intention appears to be to bring this system around the world but the streaming giant doesn’t seem to be in a hurry. He wants to test the impact of this initiative firstto then apply it to markets where it has more users such as North American and European onesthe. The changes shouldn’t come anytime soon. But they will come.
But how Netflix will handle these payments, how they’ll apply to subscriptions (maybe even the one with advertising in development) is still a mystery. We will keep you updated on this, so that when it comes to Italy maybe we will be a little less confused.