The days of using your parents’ Netflix or sharing an account with friends are coming to an end. The company announced that it would start cracking down on password sharing for its subscribers beginning sometime at the end of March.
The streaming service has long facilitated account sharing and allowed its users to take advantage of account features like user profiles and multi-device streaming. According to Netflix’s update on sharing, these features have caused “confusion” about how your Netflix account is supposed to be used, and it’s negatively affecting the company.
To address this, Netflix decided to end password sharing and came up with its paid sharing plan.
The goal is to prevent users from using Netflix without paying for their own subscription to the streaming service. Netflix has already tested a similar program in Latin America, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and Canada that charges users to add extra members to sub-accounts.
According to Netflix, your account is only supposed to be shared with the people in your household, which the company defines as “people who live in the same location with the account owner.” Anyone outside the household will need to get their own account.
Originally, Netflix stated on its help center page that each subscriber’s Netflix account would be under one household, and it would require users to verify their devices.
This would mean users would no longer be able to watch Netflix while traveling, which affects families with deployed loved ones and family members who live away from home, such as college students.
Mass Communication senior Courtlin Long, like many college students, uses her parents’ Netflix account and said she would be affected by this plan.
“I think it’s dumb and unnecessary,” Long said. “They already make a lot of money as it is and there are tons of students and kids who use their parents’ accounts or share accounts with their friends. I think they would lose a lot of users if they end password sharing.”
Netflix is anticipating that decline in users. In a letter to its shareholders, the company explains that it expects cancellations, but it also expects to see an increase in overall revenue as password borrowers activate their own accounts.
After receiving backlash from subscribers, Netflix removed its plan’s details from its website and told streaming news website The Streamable that those rules were specific to the countries where these changes were already implemented, meaning the parameters of the plan could vary by country while the company tests the waters.
Regardless, password-sharing will soon be coming to an end.