Netflix says updated measures to crackdown on password sharing were posted by accident
4 February 2023, 18:10
Streaming giant Netflix has said that updated measures to crack down on users sharing passwords were posted by mistake.
Following disappointment among subscribers on social media, many of whom threatened to cancel memberships, the company claimed some new account rules - which are being trialled in other countries - had been added to its help pages elsewhere by mistake.
Users of the platform have been expecting the firm to bring in curbs since last year, after the streamer began talking tough on password sharing during a lull in memberships.
But the extent of the measures posted earlier this week caught some by surprise.
They included adding subaccounts allowing people to add up to two people they don't live with, a move that would essentially monetise how users have been sharing logins for years.
Read more: Rishi Sunak to 'ban Channel migrants from appealing against deportation'
The approach, which is testing in parts of South America costs the equivalent of an additional £2-£3 per month.
Netflix said that a help page about about paid sharing being brought in in other countries went live elsewhere "for a brief time", and had since been taken down.
To enforce the new rules, company wants to treat devices using your account as trusted, which in practice means using them on your wifi network at home regularly.
But despite pushback from users, it's expected that the streaming firm will take sharing logins more seriously this year.
Faced with competition from the likes of Amazon Prime and Disney+, and squeezes on households during the cost-of-living crisis, the firm seeking ways to grow is subscriber base - which stands at over 230 million - and boost revenue.
But the prospect of password sharing coming to an end hasn't gone down well with users, with a tweet remerging in which Netflix proudly proclaimed: "Love is sharing a password."
