Netflix has announced that starting in 2023 it will start charging subscribers who share Netflix login credentials with others. The company has recently been testing a system that can detect account sharing.
Subscribers who want to share their account with people outside their own family will pay a few extra dollars per month starting next year. How high the surcharge will be, Netflix has not yet disclosed.
In five South American countries, Netflix tested the account sharing surcharge in recent months. The streaming service started charging an additional $3 per month for users who shared their accounts.
Netflix is going to ask users to provide their home location next year. Netflix will record the IP addresses and unique serial numbers of devices and link them to the account. This will allow Netflix to see when an account is used outside the home on another device.
The surcharge will be charged once the account is used outside the home location for more than two weeks. Netflix specifically looks at televisions or devices connected to a TV such as an Apple TV in this regard. In that situation, someone else is likely hitching a ride on the Netflix account.
It is very difficult for Netflix to demonstrate account sharing on mobile devices. Mobile devices are also used outside the home location and also get a different IP number on other networks.
Vacationers traveling to the south of France for three weeks, for example, are therefore not affected by the measure. The Netflix account can, however, be used on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets for longer than two weeks outside the home without a surcharge.
Earlier this week, the streaming service introduced a feature that allows a Netflix profile to be transferred to another Netflix account. In doing so, Netflix anticipates a surcharge for sharing accounts. As a result, the company expects fewer people to keep hitching a ride on someone else's account and become subscribers themselves.