Netflix considering crackdown on password sharing

Netflix may be rolling out a trial update to finely filter ineligible users, reported BBC. 

According to latest updates, some people have reported a pop-up screen that says, “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.”

Users are then asked to verify that they are allowed access through a special code, that’s sent via text or email. This may serve as the beginning of a crackdown on password sharing on the app, a widespread practice among its users.

However, it is not yet clear whether the company plans to roll the message out across the platform.

“This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so,” a spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The update seems out of place for the streaming giant, whose co-founder and chief executive Reed Hastings, in 2016, said, “Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with because there’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids, so there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is.”

In light of the pandemic and the closure of cinemas and theatres, Netflix has managed to gain almost 37 million new subscribers and raked in about $25 billion in revenue.