For years now, Netflix execs have been warning customers in the U.S. about password sharing, with the lofty understanding that the company would eventually find a way to pinpoint who’s been doing it nefariously in order to take action. It’s been three months since the site started cracking down on subscribers in other countries — which, to be expected, drew a lot of consumer complaints and videos of people canceling their subscriptions in protest — and the streaming giant has now gone forward with enforcing its password-sharing rules domestically. And even though we knew this day was coming, it still seems like pretty strange timing overall, as it started up on the exact same day that HBO Max officially rebranded as Max, and days after Disney revealed content purges are coming for Disney+ and Hulu.
Basically, a slew of people with Netflix subscriptions will find an email in their inbox from Netflix that lays out what could and should be done by anyone who’s been allowing those outside the household to use their accounts. As well, the company released the following statement concerning the new rules:
A Netflix account is for use by one household. Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are — at home, on the go, on holiday — and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices. We recognize that our members have many entertainment choices. It’s why we continue to invest heavily in a wide variety of new films and TV shows — so whatever your taste, mood or language and whoever you’re watching with, there’s always something satisfying to watch on Netflix.
Essentially, the three-pronged email sets up the following path to legitimate streaming:
- The first step to making sure one's account is all kosher is to hit up the settings to see all of the devices signed into it. After that, the goal would be to remove the ones from outside the household that Netflix would end up cutting anyway.
- Its execs do understand that this has been going on long enough that people streaming illicitly likely built up their own profiles and viewer histories. In those cases, anyone else on the account can use the Transfer Profile option to keep that data intact after starting up their own new membership.
- The alternate to the above step would be for the outsider family member or friend to pay an additional $7.99 to be added onto the main subscriber's account, as opposed to setting up a completely separate subscription.
Of course, customers took to social media with complaints about being charged more, with quite a few people declaring they would either be canceling their accounts or finding other ways to work around the company's crackdown efforts. How successful any of that might be remains to be seen.
Why The Timing Of Netflix's Password-Sharing Crackdown Is Interesting
In the past year and a half or so, Netflix has arguably faced more bad news than at any other point in its existence, from its first major subscriber dip in 2022 to a large swath of TV series cancellations to the shutdown of its DVD mailer service. And Netflix definitely knew a backlash would happen after its password-sharing update went live, so it's very timely indeed that those announcements happened just as the streaming world was trying to figure out how HBO Max was transitioning into Max.
Between all the confusion and snark about Warner Bros. Discovery dropping the esteemed HBO from the Max branding, as well as initial log-in problems early on, a whole lot of the "complaints about streaming service" chatter was directed at the combo service that brought over Discovery+'s legion of unscripted series. Hard to say that Netflix was aiming to specifically ride in behind that wave with its password restrictions, but problematic launches aren't exactly abnormal for giant companies.
As well, audiences are still pointing some anger at Disney, which is following in Netflix and then-HBO Max's footsteps by purging a variety of original series from Disney+ and Hulu, including Y: The Last Man, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Big Shot, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Diary of a Future President and dozens of other series and specials. (That also includes the episodic Willow series, though its creator isn't so mad about the show losing its home.)
So it'll be a short while before it becomes clear exactly if and how the streaming giant's password-sharing rules changed things as far as subscriber numbers go. But if the backlash over it stays as relatively quiet as it has been, and that's reflected in the upcoming reports, that'll make the timing of the announcement all the more interesting.
Until then, check out all of the upcoming Netflix releases that'll be debuting soon!
