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Netflix password-sharing crackdown: Here are the new household rules you need to know

The days when you could share your Netflix login details with friends and family you don’t live with are over.

Netflix password-sharing crackdown: Here are the new household rules you need to know

[Photo: regularguy.eth/Unsplash]

BY Michael Grothaus2 minute read

Netflix has announced that it will begin its long-anticipated crackdown on password sharing in the United States. The new rules will prevent Netflix subscribers from sharing their passwords—and thus access to their Netflix accounts—with anyone outside of their household. Here’s what you need to know.

  • What’s happened? Netflix has begun sending out emails to subscribers in the United States explaining that their password-sharing days are over. In a blog post, the company shared a screenshot of the email, which states: “Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with—your household.” Those people with your Netflix login details who are outside of your household will be unable to log in to your account going forward.
  • How does Netflix define a “household”? Netflix says a household is “a collection of the devices connected to the internet at the main place you watch Netflix,” aka your home. A single Netflix account can be used by all household members, whether they are family or roommates—so long as everyone accessing the account lives under the same roof. Any devices that are logged into your Netflix account that are part of your household will still be able to access your Netflix account. But people who are not part of your household will now be blocked from using your Netflix login details.
  • How does Netflix know who and who isn’t in my household? Netflix has a few different ways to determine who is in your household. According to this support document here, the company uses the IP address of devices, account activity, and device IDs to determine who is in whose household. A Netflix household can also be set manually, but Netflix will know if you are adding people to your household who actually don’t live there due to device IP addresses and what wireless networks the devices are connecting to.
  • What happens to the people I was sharing my Netflix account with? They will be blocked from accessing your Netflix account. But Netflix will also allow you to add them to your account—for a fee. Netflix calls this “extra members,” and it allows you to add someone who does not live in your household onto your account. That extra member can then access Netflix in their own house with the benefit of having their own Netflix profile, account, and password. However, you will be paying for their membership via an add-on fee of $7.99 a month.
  • Why is Netflix limiting password sharing? The company says password sharing is negatively affecting its profits. Earlier this year, Netflix said more than 100 million households had access to the service via password sharing. That’s a lot of lost revenue. 
  • Won’t the password-sharing crackdown hurt Netflix viewership? Perhaps in the short term, but as CNBC points out, in countries where Netflix has previously cracked down on password sharing, viewership numbers dropped initially, but then the people who had been getting Netflix via password sharing began signing up for their own accounts or were added as an extra member to existing accounts. 
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Grothaus is a novelist and author. He has written for Fast Company since 2013, where he's interviewed some of the tech industry’s most prominent leaders and writes about everything from Apple and artificial intelligence to the effects of technology on individuals and society. Michael’s current tech-focused areas of interest include AI, quantum computing, and the ways tech can improve the quality of life for the elderly and individuals with disabilities More


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