Technology
Can I share my Netflix password? Account rules explained
SHARING a Netflix account is very common – but it’s not always allowed.
Worse still, Netflix is now trying to catch people breaking the rules. Here’s what you need to know.
Netflix is one of the most popular apps in the world[/caption]
Can I share my Netflix password?
Netflix currently forbids the sharing of Netflix passwords.
According to the terms and services, you shouldn’t pass on your login “beyond your household”.
That means if you’ve got friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, long-distance lovers or kids at university using your Netflix, you may be breaking the rules.
However, you can share Netflix within a household – which is why Account Profiles exist.
Of course, Netflix wasn’t always this way.
In 2016, Netflix confirmed that it didn’t have any plans to root out and punish users who shared passwords.
“Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with, because there’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids,” said Netflix chief Reed Hastings, speaking five years ago.
“So there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is.”
This view soon changed however: in 2019, Netflix confirmed plans for a crackdown.
Netflix product chief Greg Peters said the firm wants to address password-sharing without “alienating a certain portion of [the] user base”.
“We continue to monitor it so we’re looking at the situation,” he said.
“We’ll see those consumer-friendly ways to push on the edges of that.”
What happens if I get caught sharing my Netflix account?
Netflix is now trialling a way of rooting out account sharers.
So if you’re borrowing someone’s login, you may soon have to pay for your own.
Users are now being met with a message saying: “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.”
You can then verify your identity with a code that’s sent to the account owner.
“This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so,” Netflix explained.
If you don’t verify your account, you can be locked out.
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In other news, Resident Evil fans will be pleased to hear a new TV series based on the video game franchise is coming to Netflix.
You can now watch popular Netflix content for FREE online thanks to a global promotion.
And, Disney recently released a trailer for its latest Star Wars TV series, “The Bad Batch”.
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