Unauthorized password sharing is Netflix – the streaming platform’s approach is messed up

Actually, that should soon be a thing of the past: instead of opening a family account with Netflix and creating different user profiles, many preferred to use the option to share the account with acquaintances. This is cheaper for everyone involved, because in the end you only have to pay for one account and not a more expensive family account with multiple user accounts.

With exactly this ulterior motive, Netflix wanted to prevent this in the future. In 2022, the streaming service announced that it wanted to massively limit account sharing. Appropriate measures have yet to be announced.

They have now been published, but just as quickly taken offline againthe German IT magazine Golem reported for the first time (see resources). In fact, the measures that were previously visible on a Netflix help page can no longer be found. Netflix has not yet given a reason for this.

How does Netflix plan to expose account sharing?

Concrete information has already been provided in the US about how Netflix wants to determine account sharing. It was assumed that it would be regulated in a similar way in Europe.

So it is still possible to share the Netflix password, but only within your own household. Because Netflix checks the wifi connection of the logged in devices. They must all be in a “primary location”.

One exception: If you are on the road and need to access your account outside of your primary location, a temporary code valid for seven consecutive days may be sent. After that, a new one must be requested. However, you must log in to the primary location every 31 days.

Netflix removes information about tightened measures

On January 31, a Netflix help page said about the new measures according to golem.de:

And: If someone wants to log in who doesn’t follow these rules, that person can be “blocked from playing Netflix” and asked to create their own account. However, this notification has now been removed.

Instead, a day later it just says:

This passage was not described in the old version of the measures against account sharing. Instead, there is now no indication of a blockage.

There is no indication on the Netflix website that the content of the help article was rewritten in a day, nor are there any comments about existing previous versions of the article.

Sources