Starting in 2023, Netflix plans to make it harder to share an account. In doing so, the popular streaming service wants to limit mass password sharing. As a result, in the future, you will have to pay extra to let people outside your household use your Netflix account. Netflix has already tested this in five South American countries.
Netflix's fine print has always stated that an account is meant to be used within a single household. Use outside one's household, however, was allowed by Netflix with a blind eye.
According to the streaming service, nearly 1 in 2 users worldwide share their accounts. In the Netherlands, 800,000 households would stream on someone else's account. As a result, Netflix misses out on 6.6 million euros in revenue every month. With the new measures, Netflix wants to address this. However, the question remains whether all the people who now share an account are willing to pay extra.
Netflix will initially start asking you to verify devices outside your own household. This verification process will make it more difficult for two (or more) households to share one account. To verify that a Netflix account is shared, the streaming service will use IP addresses, device IDs and account activity.
If you still want to share one account with two households, you can add an additional household to your Netflix account. In the countries where this is already possible, it currently costs $2.99 (€3.01). How many households you can add depends on your membership. Another option is to create a completely new account. To make this attractive, you can now easily transfer profiles to a new account.
In Netflix's initial plan, the measures also affected users who want to use their own account abroad. In fact, the surcharge for an additional household would also be charged if you use your account from abroad for more than 14 days.
According to the Consumers' Association, this really goes against European rules. According to those rules, subscriptions of streaming services travel with you as long as your main address is in the Netherlands. Via social media, the Consumers' Association called on Netflix to comply with the rules.
Meanwhile, Netflix has confirmed that you won't have to pay a surcharge if you want to Netflix from your vacation home in Europe for more than two weeks.
What the exact impact of the measures will be on streaming Netflix with a VPN connection is still unknown. Netflix will most likely associate your IP address and device ID with your account. If you use a different IP address, you may be asked to verify your account. After verification, you can then simply use Netflix.
However, those using a VPN connection to watch Netflix will often switch IP addresses. If Netflix starts tracking IP addresses, this will be noticeable. As a result, Netflix's new direction may also affect streaming through a VPN, a practice streaming services want to combat anyway.
There is also a difference between streaming the Dutch Netflix while wintering in Spain and streaming the American Netflix from the Netherlands. After all, using Netflix America is not covered by the European regulations invoked by the Consumers' Association, which may restrict it more strongly.
