Netflix tests a crackdown on password sharing

Netflix never tried to stop their customers from sharing account passwords. The video streaming company had only applied a limit to the number of devices which can stream simultaneously through one account. The number depends on the subscription plan you have picked and can vary. For example, if you are paying for the most premium plan, you’d be able to watch on up to four devices at the same time.

As of March 2021, though, Netflix has started testing a new account-verification procedure which is popping up when some clients are trying to sign into Netflix -- mainly on TV devices (via TheStreamable). The message that pops onto the screens is as follows: “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.”

In this process users can verify that they’re a part of the same household the account belongs to by receiving a code on their phones or in their email box. A representative of Netflix has stated that the test is “designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so.” So far only a small number of accounts are being put through this test and it is not certain whether Netflix will make all its users go through this new authentication step in the future.