Netflix possibly clamping down on users who share passwords

Netflix on Friday 12 March 2021 dabbled with more strictly enforcing its rule against sharing passwords with people living elsewhere, according to US media reports.

Netflix users receive notice

Some Netflix users who were apparently tapping into other people’s accounts turned to Twitter to share news of an apparent crackdown along.

They mentioned a notice telling them they need to be subscribers to keep watching the service. Netflix included an offer to try the service free for 30 days, according to a copy posted at Twitter.

“Oh no, Netflix doing the purge?” the Twitter user wrote in the post.

A subscriber-only service

Netflix offers to verify who is trying to log into an account by sending a code via text message or email to the subscriber to confirm the user lives with them.

“This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so,” a Netflix spokesperson is quoted as telling US media outlets including The Streamable, which broke the news.

It was not certain the test of the account-user check would turn into a crackdown on password sharing across the service.

Nearly a third of subscribers to television streaming services such as Netflix share their passwords with people who don’t live with them, according to a survey last year by consulting firm Magid.

Password abuse

The practice has long been tolerated by California-based Netflix, which has said that “guardrails” are in place to prevent extreme abuses in password sharing.

People stuck at home due to the pandemic have turned to the internet for entertainment from streaming television to online video gameplay.

By the end of last year, Netflix solidified its lead position in video sharing by passing 200 million paid subscribers worldwide for the first time.

Netflix’s ‘hidden’ library

In other news: There is a way to access “secret content” on Netflix. Netflix has a category-system to keep track of all its thousands of films and shows across various genres.

And there’s a way for you to go beyond the standard Netflix interface and access this “hidden library”. To access these categories, paste the following into your browser: http://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/ 

Next, add the number in brackets next to the category you’re looking for in the list linked below. So, if you want “Action and Adventure”, the URL will be https://ift.tt/1Z914NV

The list of genre codes can be found here.

© Agence France-Presse / Additional reporting by Cheryl Kahla

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