Yahoo Finance Netflix to crack down on password sharing
Are you still sharing your ex’s Netflix account? Well, your days of mooching are coming to an end, with the streaming giant set to crack down on password sharing early next year.
Netflix announced its plans to boot password sharers at its quarterly earnings call this week.
“We’re trying to come up with a range of options that support customer choice,” Netflix chief product officer Greg Peters said.
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Netflix will charge an extra monthly fee to people who want to share their login details from early 2023.
This will be known as “extra user” sub accounts for users who live outside your household who want to use your login.
While the exact amount has not been confirmed for Australia, when Netflix trialled the feature in Latin America it cost users an extra US$2.99 a month. So Aussies can expect to pay around the $4-$5 mark.
How exactly Netflix plans to crack down on password sharing is still unknown.
Earlier this year, Netflix estimated 100 million households were password sharing and using accounts paid for by other people.
The announcement comes as Netflix rolls out a new feature that allows users to transfer their individual viewer profile from one account to another.
This allows users to keep their recommendations, viewing history, My list, saved games and other settings when they start their own membership.
“People move. Families grow. Relationships end. But, throughout these life changes, your Netflix experience should stay the same,” the streaming giant said.
New subscription tier coming
Netflix will also launch a new subscription tier that includes ads, for $6.99 a month.
The Basic With Ads plan will be available in Australia from November 4.
Users will be able to access much of the same content, but the video quality will be limited to 720 pixels and they’ll need to watch around four to five minutes of ads per hour.
Users also won’t be able to download content to watch later.
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