Netflix Backtracks on Device Blocking to Curb Password Sharing, But For How Long?
Netflix, via its Help Center, released the first details regarding its efforts to discourage customers from sharing passwords earlier this week, but there’s already been a bit of a pivot from the company on some of those forthcoming measures.
When the Help Center page detailing the ways users could and could not share their accounts debuted, it featured a section explaining that users outside of a subscriber’s home who tried to access a Netflix account might find themselves blocked from accessing the service. The streamer also detailed how subscribers would need to log into the service from their home network once every month to continually verify their connected devices.
Check Out Screenshots of Netflix’s Device-Blocking Information from Jan. 31
(click on the images to expand)
Update: Netflix Claims It Errantly Posted Password Sharing Rules that Would Block Devices Outside of Subscribers’ Homes
However, things at Netflix’s Help Center look a bit different today. Whether the change was made in response to customer feedback, or because the information was not intended to be made public yet is unclear.
A Netflix spokesperson declined to provide any information on the change, telling The Streamable, “We don’t have any updates to share beyond the fact that we expect to roll this out more broadly in Q1.”
Whatever the cause, the sections regarding blocking and verifying devices every 31 days no longer appear on the page dedicated to information on sharing Netflix accounts.
Instead, the streamer now offers step-by-step instructions for verifying a device by sending an email to the primary account holder with a four-digit code. Users will then have 15 minutes to enter that code, and their device will be registered as verified and safe to use the associated account. Netflix will track devices associated with the primary account, and attempted logins on unrecognized devices will trigger another verification code email to be sent.
What Netflix’s Help Page Regarding Account Sharing Says Now
The shift from blocking devices after an attempted login to verifying devices before logins are attempted is another sign that Netflix is trying to be as delicate as it can with its initial anti-password sharing measures. Blocking devices from accessing the service would certainly be effective, but would likely be viewed by many as a rather harsh measure from a service that encouraged users to share passwords as recently as 2019.
Still, Netflix subscribers should expect that the streaming giant will get more aggressive with the way they handle password blocking over time. The service estimates that as many as 100 million people worldwide are using someone else’s account to watch, and it wants to monetize those users as efficiently as possible.
Verification and device blocking are not the only methods at Netflix’s disposal, either. The service could also begin charging account holders when their account is used by someone outside of their home, a method Netflix tested in select Latin American countries in 2022. Netflix is trying to “meet users where they are” with its password-sharing crackdown, but it could possibly explore more stringent measures if users don’t take the hint quickly.
Netflix
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