Netflix To Stop Users From Sharing Accounts Outside Homes

Netflix users sharing accounts with others outside your home, be warned. The streaming service company has a plan to make users give up this practice. If freeloaders won’t stop, they’ll nag them until they get a separate account. 

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Netflix Wants To End the Practice of Sharing Accounts Outside the Home

While a majority of Netflix subscribers aren’t sharing accounts, an estimated 14% admitted using a Netflix account from someone they don’t live with.

This is according to a 2019 survey from MoffettNathanson. At the time, Netflix had over 139 million subscribers globally, which means that it hosted 8 million freeloaders.

However, the streaming service company enjoyed a surge in new subscriptions during the pandemic. This bumped their base up to 222 million subscribers.

Assuming the 14% freeloading rate stands, Netflix has over 31 million people not paying their share.  

Netflix Doesn’t Want Sharing Accounts Outside the Household

As a result, Netflix wants to hold these 31 million moochers accountable. Its terms of service forbid users to share accounts with individuals outside the household. However, nobody, not even Netflix, took that warning seriously. 

These past few years, Netflix did not actively pursue those that log in from outside a user’s household. After all, many dependents, including college kids, use their parents’ accounts while they’re away.

Once these kids graduate and become workers, they’ll want to own their own accounts soon. The company might fear a backlash if it kicked off users logging in from another location. However, Netflix wouldn't want to be the miserly owner for fear of a massive PR storm, 

Netflix to Encourage Freeloading Users to Sign Up

The company won’t make an aggressive move or issue a warning to its user base. Instead, it will do it the old-fashioned way. Netflix will now start nagging freeloading users to sign up for separate accounts.

Currently, the company is testing a feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru that allows subscribers who share accounts outside the home to do so.

However, they will have to pay extra for that privilege. For an extra fee, users can start sharing accounts with up to two users. 

Meanwhile, users who continue to use accounts owned by someone in another household will receive a request for verification. This can come in the form of a verification code sent to the account holder.

The original owner will also receive a notification that someone is using their account. Netflix will then present the paid options to continue account sharing.

In addition, Netflix will also allow users to transfer their profiles to a new account. This can come in handy for couples breaking up or for housemates going their separate ways. 

Why Is Netflix Suddenly Worried About Sharing Accounts?

Why did Netflix suddenly come after the parasite viewers? Chengyi Long, Netflix director of product innovation, explained their side in a blog post. 

“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account,” he wrote. These eventually “created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households.” 

But what's the sudden problem with sharing between households? The answer is lost revenue. Long said that the unwarranted sharing impacted Netflix’s ability “to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”

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