Netflix Account Password Sharing: Rules, Limit & Penalty

Free Netflix password sharing has officially come to an end. In Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain, the streaming service started rolling out a system in February that charges fees for “extra member” subaccounts when people outside of one household use the same membership. The additional fees are anticipated to be implemented in more nations, including the US, as the movement spreads internationally.

For a long time, Netflix was not particularly strict about password sharing. Netflix’s creator Reed Hastings stated in 2016 that he enjoys when customers recommend the service to others. Netflix once tweeted, “Love is sharing a password.” However, after experiencing its largest subscriber losses in a decade, Netflix began experimenting with ways to “monetize account sharing” last year.

Now, under pressure from increasing competition, Netflix is exploring measures it had previously disregarded, such as an account-sharing crackdown, and we’re delving into all of it, beginning with Netflix’s new account-sharing policies.

New Account-Sharing Rules & Limit

There will only be one “home” per account allowed by Netflix moving forward, and additional homes will have to pay extra to utilize the same account. While using a tablet, laptop, or phone outside of your physical house, you can still use your Netflix account. However, there will only be one account, to which you can add additional accounts.

This strategy has already been used by the streaming service in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Customers in such nations must fork over an additional $2.99 per month to add more residences to their account. If the price would be the same in the United States, Netflix did not say.

Basic plan members may add one additional home, standard plan members may add up to two additional homes, and premium plan members may add up to three additional homes. By using another person’s Netflix password, you can move their Netflix profile to a different account.

They will therefore be able to access their viewing preferences and suggestions on their new account. With the new approach, users who shared their passwords with others can now quickly create and manage sub-accounts. Netflix will begin charging for sub-accounts in 2023, but this won’t be its only new money source.

Customers will be able to pay for a less expensive, but ad-filled, basic version of the streaming service. The most popular $15.50 per month ad-free Netflix subscription will drop to $7 per month in the U.S. with the launch of the Basic with Ads plan.

Account-Sharing Penalty

Although the recent warning from the Intellectual Property Office will undoubtedly help with this, Netflix will ultimately have to rely on its customers to uphold the law. But in order to pinpoint the locations of TVs, phones, and tablets using a Netflix account profile, it will also need to employ IP addresses and device IDs.

If there is a discrepancy or any other suspicious indicators, Netflix’s technology will recognize that the users are from separate households and are violating the terms of service, unless of course they have paid for sharing. Despite the fact that their payment information is technically available to be deducted at any time and is stored on the account, Netflix has made it clear that account holders won’t receive a a penalty fee.

In its website help section, Netflix states that it “will not automatically charge you if you share your account with someone who doesn’t live with you.” Instead, Netflix may simply wind up barraging account holders with notifications or screen messages until they consent to turn on paid sharing. It could be wise to follow the regulations going forward, according to legal counsel.