We have known for several months that Netflix wants to prevent account sharing to maximize the number of subscriptions. A change that has already been tested in several countries. Netflix detailed in more detail how the platform would end account sharing.
After a bad patch at the start of 2022, Netflix’s figures are on the rise and the challenge for the SVoD service is to optimize its number of subscribers. To do this, several strategies have been put in place: the Essential subscription with advertisements, profile transfer, but also the end of account sharing. The latter is scheduled for the beginning of 2023, without the exact date being known. According to the platform, more than 100 million households currently benefit from account sharing: a very significant shortfall. Netflix has revealed how it will prevent its users from sharing a single subscription.
Netflix wants to block devices that log in to the same account
A new page has appeared on the Netflix FAQ, spotted by GHacks. She does not go there by four paths and indicates that ” a Netflix account is for people who live together in the same household ” and “people who don’t live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix“. On this page, the platform speaks of a “netflix hearth» : it can be assumed that it is a main device or a Wi-Fi network on which the devices will have to be connected to watch the contents.
Netflix adds that it can detect a device outside the household that identifies itself or regularly uses the account. It will sometimes be necessary to check it so that it can continue to watch films and series. The other solution is to change “netflix hearth“.
This verification consists of a link sent by email or SMS: on this link is displayed a four-digit confirmation code which expires after 15 minutes. You then have to enter it on the device trying to connect. Netflix specifies that this “device verification may be required periodically“. We can think that it is 31 days since, if the FAQ does not mention it, a previous version could have mentioned it, if we are to believe our colleagues fromNumeramawhich add that a device must connect at least once a month (31 days) to the home Wi-Fi network to be considered part of the household.
How Netflix detects devices that aren’t in your household
On this FAQ, we learn that Netflix consults “information such as IP address, device ID, and account activity from devices connected to the Netflix account“.
For people going on a trip, on the go, or living between multiple households, Netflix wants you to be able to keep using it. According to the service, “you shouldn’t need to verify your device to watch Netflix“. As for persons of the same family residing outside the householdfor a certain time”, Netflix specifies that there will be certain invitations to verify the device remotely, to confirm that it is authorized to use the service.
Netflix also uses the primary account holder’s home internet connection as it is stated that if another device being used is connected to the same network, no verification will be required.
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