This is how Netflix wants to prevent account sharing in the future

Sharing the Netflix account has become a problem for the streaming provider. Now Netflix wants to prevent account sharing by assigning a main location to each profile. Blocking accounts is off the table for now.

There’s one recently added to the Help section of the Netflix website new page. There, users can find out how they can “share their Netflix account with other people”.

The tiresome topic of account sharing for Netflix

Netflix accounts shared across multiple households have long been a thorn in the side of the US group. For several months, the company has repeatedly made it clear to the public the immense damage that sharing accounts for the streaming service does.

When Netflix had to announce a decline in subscription numbers in April 2022 for the first time in more than ten years, the topic of account sharing was also on the agenda. At that time, the group said it had a “relatively high household penetration”.

However, there is also a “large number of households with joint accounts”. The company estimates that there could be around 100 million households worldwide that use Netflix but don’t pay for it.

Account sharing: Netflix accounts should have a main location

In the future, Netflix wants to make this sharing of accounts significantly more difficult for its customers. Because “a Netflix account is intended for people who live together in one household,” says the newly created help page. People who have their own household “must use their own account to stream Netflix.”

Netflix wants to assign its customers a main location in the future and recognize whether Netflix is ​​used on devices within a household. The group wants to use information such as IP addresses, device IDs and account activities of the devices for this.

Can I still watch Netflix on vacation?

The main location is therefore defined by the home WLAN. But what happens when users are traveling or have a second home?

According to several consistent media reports In the future, users must be in the WLAN of the main location at least once every 31 days. If they then watch Netflix through that device, it will be associated with the account for that period of time.

Verification will be required for all other devices in the future. “We’re doing this to ensure that the device using the account is authorized to use the account,” Netflix said. First of all, the Netflix support page also said that violators would be blocked. However, this notice has since disappeared.

For verification, the account holder will receive a code by email or to their phone number. This 4-digit verification code must then be entered on the device within 15 minutes. According to Netflix, if you are away from the main location for a longer period of time, users may have to repeat this process “occasionally”.

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