No, Netflix does not crack down on password usage in the US

UPDATE (02/03/2023): Netflix faced backlash on social media this week after a help center article posted on the company’s website laid out a set of anti-password sharing guidelines for all users worldwide, including the United States . However, the company now says it published the rules in error.

“Yesterday, a Help Center article with information only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru was briefly published in other countries. We have since updated it,” a Netflix spokesperson told VERIFY.

January 19 campaign announced that it plans to start sharing passwords for users outside of Chile, Costa Rica and Peru by March 31, the end of the first quarter. Netflix has not yet released details on how it will implement these plans in the US The original story remains as posted below.

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Netflix has more than that 221 million subscribers all over the world. That’s more than any other streaming platform, including Disney+ and HBO Max.

Reed Hastings, co-founder and CEO of Netflix, has long recognized that many more people than the 221 million subscribers actually view the streaming service’s content because of password sharing. in fact, two research released during the coronavirus pandemic, it is estimated that nearly a third of Netflix subscribers are allowing people outside their household to use their account.

Latest headlines there is warning people that Netflix will begin cracking down on password usage by requiring more password prompts and charging additional users — and some subscribers in the United States (here, hereand here) are voicing their concerns on social media.

Is Netflix testing ways to combat password transfers in the United States?

• Chenyi Longdirector of product innovation at Netflix
• A spokesperson for Netflix
• Independent login verification of Netflix users in the United States

No, Netflix is ​​not testing ways to combat password usage in the United States. Currently, this only happens in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru.

The controversy surrounding the crackdown on password sharing came after Chenyi Long, Netflix’s director of product innovation, posted news release titled “Paying to Share Netflix Outside Your Family” on the streaming service’s website on March 16.

In a press release, Long explains that Netflix will begin testing two new features that charge subscribers to share their accounts.

In the first new feature, Netflix Standard and Premium plan subscribers will be able to add “sub-accounts” for two people they don’t live with for about $3 per member. In a second new feature, Netflix subscribers with Basic, Standard, and Premium plans can allow people who share their account to transfer their profile information to either a new account or a “sub-account.”

In the press release, Long makes it clear that Netflix is ​​testing these features in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, not in the United States.

“We will work to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world,” Long wrote.

A Netflix spokesperson also told VERIFY that these tests will not be conducted in the US

“We really want to see what results we can get from the trials in Chile, Peru and Costa Rica before we even consider going anywhere else, but we can say for sure that no, the US is not part of the plan.” said the spokesman. said.

VERIFY has independently verified whether Netflix is ​​charging US users extra to stream on accounts outside of their household, and we were able to log in without issue.

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