Netflix came under fire a few days ago after new password sharing rules were posted on the platform’s Help Center in several countries, particularly in the United States.
The internet wasted no time in sharing the crack down measures on social media, which quickly enraged streamers worldwide. According to the strict new guidelines, Netflix users logged in to the same account must be living in one household.
To ensure of this, users must sign in to their account using the WiFi of their “primary location” once every 31 days, open the Netflix app or website, and actually watch something while they’re at it. Otherwise, you’ll be asked to make a new Netflix account. Another option would be to have the account owner you’re borrowing from pay to add an extra member to their account.
As stated on the streamer’s Help Center page in certain areas, “An extra member will have their own account and password, but their extra member slot will be paid for by the account owner who invited them to join their Netflix.”
For those wondering how Netflix plans on monitoring whether an account is signed on to its primary location’s WiFi, the platform indicated that they’ll be using “information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity.”
The updated rules did not bid well for Netflix users around the globe, with many even threatening to cancel their subscriptions. Just days after the backlash, though, Netflix took down the guidelines from the platform, clarified that they were put up by mistake, and indicated that these guidelines are currently only being trialled in three countries.
“For a brief time yesterday, a help center article containing information that is only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru went live in other countries. We have since updated it,” said the streaming giant’s spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka in a statement provided for The Verge.
As of the moment, Netflix Philippines is also free of the controversial measures. The usual rule still applies, which requires a primary account owner to verify a log in from a user outside their household, allowing members to share one Netflix account from different locations—for now, at least.
It’s still unclear whether Netflix will eventually implement the now viral guidelines worldwide. In the same statement, Hidaka only shared that “Later in Q1, we expect to start rolling out paid sharing more broadly.”
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