Netflix Reveals How it Will Crackdown on Password Sharing

Netflix has updated their FAQ pages with details about exemptions and rules on password-sharing within a household.

Netflix is officially cracking down on password-sharing. Starting this year, the streaming platform plans to halt accounting sharing by asking users to pay extra fees to use the service outside of their primary household for extended periods of time. Details about the plan have been updated on the website’s FAQ pages for countries where extra membership fees are currently being tested, like Chile, Costa Rica and Peru.

The new terms ask users to define their primary location through their television, with all accounts and devices needing to be shared through the same Wi-Fi as the TV. For those who want to use Netflix on their own device will have to launch the app in their residence at least once every 31 days.

“A primary location is set by a TV that is signed into your account and is connected to your Wi-Fi network. All other devices signed into your account on that Wi-Fi network will be associated with your primary location and will be able to use Netflix,” it reads.

If the primary television isn’t set – or the user doesn’t have a TV – Netflix will automatically set a primary location based on IP address, device IDs, and activity.

“To ensure that your devices are associated with your primary location, connect to the Wi-Fi at your primary location, open the Netflix app or website, and watch something at least once every 31 days,” the company adds on its support page.

The enforced rule against password sharing has been in the works since 2022, as the service nearly a million subscribers between last April and July when more users unsubscribed. After their Q4 meeting in 2022, the company said that it will crack down on password sharing “more broadly” in the coming months, per The Verge.