Netflix password sharing

Starting today, users in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain will be asked to set a primary location for their account, Chengyi Long, director of product ...

More than 100 million households around the world share Netflix passwords, according to the company. Subscribers with the two highest-tier service plans, Standard and Premium, will also be able to add up to two extra members outside their household for an additional monthly fee. Netflix has revealed the next phase of its crackdown on password-sharing.

Users in these countries will now have to pay to give people they don't live with access to their account, after similar rules were trialed in Latin America ...

Netflix generated over half of its revenue in 2022 from outside the United States, so whenever the dollar loses value its international sales and earnings get a boost once translated back into the currency. A new “manage access and devices” page will allow members to more easily control who has access. Under the new rules, subscribers to Netflix’s Standard or Premium plans will be able to pay for up to two people outside of their household to use their account. Netflix started introducing the change last year in Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. [ subscriber losses](https://edition.cnn.com/2022/07/19/media/netflix-earnings/index.html) last year, said in a blog post Wednesday that password sharing hurt its revenues and therefore limited its ability to invest in new content. The cost of adding a new person will be $7.99 Canadian dollars ($5.96), $7.99 New Zealand dollars ($5.09), and €3.99 ($4.30) and €5.99 ($6.45) in Portugal and Spain respectively.

Netflix announced that users in four countries will have to pay an extra fee to share their account with someone living outside their household.

In a [letter to shareholders](https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q4/FINAL-Q4-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf) last month, the company claimed that watchers free-riding off someone else’s account “undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve Netflix.” The model proposed on Wednesday was [first tested](https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/16/netflix-tests-a-new-feature-that-will-raise-prices-for-account-sharing/) in Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica. The company warned that these new measures could affect “near-term member growth,” but claimed that it would improve overall revenue as more users who once got accounts for free became paying customers. Adding one extra member will cost an additional $7.99 Canadian (or $5.49), bumping up the total cost by almost 50%. [shareholder letter](https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q4/FINAL-Q4-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf), Netflix said it would roll out its anti-sharing measures more broadly in the first quarter of 2023. The company will start asking users in Canada, New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal to pay extra if they want to share an account with someone living outside their home. Those on the company’s Basic plan cannot add a new member. [suggests](https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_financials/2022/q4/FINAL-Q4-22-Shareholder-Letter.pdf) that over 100 million households engaged in some form of account sharing. [testing different ways](https://fortune.com/2023/02/02/netflix-password-sharing-latin-america-trials-hint-at-new-plan/) to discourage password sharing in some of its Latin American markets since last March. For example, a [its support page](https://help.netflix.com/en/node/123277/us), Netflix defines a household as “people who live in the same location with the account owner.” [Standard plan](https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24926/ca) in Canada costs $16.49 Canadian (or $12.28) a month.

Netflix is looking to extend its restrictions on users sharing passwords to four more countries.

"We value our members and recognize that they have many entertainment choices. Customers will be able to access a new Manage Access and Devices page to track what devices are signed in to an account and where. The streaming giant confirmed: "Members can still easily watch Netflix on their personal devices or log into a new TV, like at a hotel or holiday rental." A support page on Netflix Costa Rica's website sent customers into a panic last week when it announced that users would have to set a primary location and devices logging on from another area would need to request a temporary access code. "We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams," the global streaming giant said in a blog post on Wednesday. Customers in these countries will have to pay a fee if they want to share their subscription with anyone that doesn't live with them.

Netflix wants to stop multiple households using one account. Over 100 million households share passwords, it said.

In Spain, the service will be 5.99 euros ($6.45), and in Portugal it will be 3.99 euros ($4.30). In New Zealand, the service will cost NZ$7.99 ($5.09) per month, while it will be CAN$7.99 ($5.96) per month. Paid sharing means that Netflix users will have to set up a primary location, so only people in that household can use the account without paying extra. In its Wednesday announcement, Netflix said that over 100 million households are sharing accounts, which is impacting its "ability to invest in great new TV and films." [The Guardian reported.](https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/feb/02/netflix-accidentally-posts-guidelines-for-cracking-down-on-password-sharing) That prompted some [viral tweets](https://twitter.com/SaeedDiCaprio/status/1621612524754948098?s=20&t=YkNndQ2bq675kwZpeHnkKw) suggesting that the company had u-turned on its clamp down, but it is still looking to introduce paid sharing beyond the latest four countries. [letter to shareholders](https://ir.netflix.net/financials/quarterly-earnings/default.aspx) dated January 19, Netflix said that it expected to roll out its "paid sharing" system by the end of March.

Netflix said it will also allow people who have been borrowing accounts to transfer their viewing history and other preferences to a new, paid subscription.

Netflix didn't say what actions it will take if subscribers continue to share accounts outside their household. "We've always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams," the company said in a blog post Wednesday. While Netflix won't say when paid sharing will come to other countries, some version of the plan is expected to be introduced in the U.S.

The Netflix password-sharing crackdown is now expanding rapidly after the streaming giant announced new, restrictive measures in North America and Europe.

The varied pricing and selective rollout, suggest that Netflix is still fine-tuning the terms of its password-sharing crackdown before it hits critical markets, like the UK and US. We think of this as similar to what we see when we raise prices.” All Netflix customers in these countries will also have to set a primary household location. “We’ll see a bit of a cancel reaction to that. Netflix will enforce this geo-fencing through IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity. The crackdown now spans four continents after Netflix debuted restrictions in Latin America last month.

The changes the streaming giant flagged last April have begun to roll out around the world. Here's what Australian users can expect.

[Karl Quinn](/by/karl-quinn-hvecw)is a senior culture writer at The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via The cost of a core account is $18.49 for standard, to which you can add one external member, or $24.99 for premium, to which you can add two. The underlying change in all this is that Netflix account holders will now need to register a primary location for their subscription. However, given enforcement will be linked to primary location, not being required to set one would seem to suggest such households are off the hook. In short, you can expect to be paying $6.99 for an additional member by the end of next month. At the current exchange rate, that works out to about $A7.25 for an additional member. Access will be limited to a single device at a time. Historically, Netflix has turned a blind eye to password sharing beyond the account holder’s residence. Netflix doesn’t want to startle the horse too much, though. The change also applies to users in Portugal, Canada and Spain. The number of devices on which Netflix can be watched at one time is determined by your plan, but the number of devices on which it can be watched at any time is unlimited. That ought to mean that multiple members of the household should be able to watch on a shared account, though at the time of writing Netflix Australia was unable to confirm this.

Experts weigh in on if Netflix's big gamble on cracking down on password sharing will backfire on the streaming giant.

“That was the social norm that Netflix had established, and it’s been established for a long time. “Once the social norm has changed and it’s just expected you can’t share your password, I don’t know why the other platforms wouldn’t follow suit quickly.” “To cancel and find some other way to do it is hard, especially if you like to watch Netflix,” says Paul Fombelle, associate professor of marketing at Northeastern. It’s not necessarily a guarantee that every streamer will follow Netflix, Bart says. [love is sharing a password](https://twitter.com/netflix/status/840276073040371712?lang=en),” it looks like the streamer is preparing for a breakup. People have established habits around the platform and a sense of what it means in the lives of them and their families. Bart says it raises a lot of questions. According to the new rules, users will now have to set a primary location for their account. They can create their own Netflix accounts or the primary account holder can add up to two “sub accounts” added, for a fee per user. According to Netflix, there are more than 100 million households worldwide that share accounts on the platform. [major streamers are struggling with](https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/11/media/streaming-disney-netflix/index.html). [users were outraged](https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/02/03/netflix-anti-password-sharing/).