Netflix Explains Password Sharing Rules for the First Time

Netflix has made good on its warning of an impending crackdown on account password sharing in early 2023, explaining its new rules in a Help Center article (via The Streamable).

According to Netflix’s estimates, more than 100 million users across the globe use another person’s Netflix account to access the service. Netflix hopes that implementing new anti-password sharing measures will encourage users who currently share accounts to create their own, generating new revenue for the streamer after a shaky few quarters.

Last year, Netflix posted its first quarterly subscriber loss in more than a decade. The streaming giant has somewhat rebounded since then, beating expectations and adding 7.6 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2022.

“A Netflix account is for people who live together in a single household,” the company says on the Help Center page. “People who do not live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix.”

Moving forward, Netflix will only allow users to share accounts with people within their household. Users will be required to connect to the Wi-Fi at their “primary location” — their home Wi-Fi, for example, head over to Netflix, and watch something on the service at least once every 31 days.

Doing so will mark the device as a “trusted device,” and failure to do so could result in Netflix blocking the device from its platform.

“To ensure that your devices are associated with your primary location, Netflix is now asking users to connect to the Wi-Fi at your primary location, open the Netflix app or website, and watch something at least once every 31 days,” Netflix noted.

The company explained that it uses “information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity from devices signed into the Netflix account” to determine which devices belong to one household.

Netflix’s anti-password sharing rules are rolling out now, and they are already active in Canada. Check out the Netflix Help Center to learn more.