The days of friends and family sharing a Netflix account could soon be over, as the streaming giant begins to test a new measure designed to clamp down on password sharing.
Instead of being able to watch from anywhere, provided you have a login, the trial implementation of a 'add a home' feature will force users to cough up a fee if they are to watch from a new location.
The system - which is being tested - means that users will only be able to view movies and TV shows in one household, unless they pay an additional fee. People on certain plans will also be able to add more homes to their account than others.
Read more: Netflix shares plummet as streaming service loses 200,000 subscribers
The Mirror reports that viewers in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, will see the feature be put in play next month. IP addresses, device IDs and other network data will be used to check the locations of viewers rather than GPS technology, the firm says.
Netflix ’s director of product innovation, Chengyi Long, said in a statement: "It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly. But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve our service."
It is the latest effort by US-based Netflix to recoup costs from consumers, amid a downturn in users and failing revenue within the company. A loss of 2 million subscribers is forecasted for the second financial quarter of 2022, with investors said to be bracing themselves for a fall in value as a result.
They pledged to introduce a charge for password sharing after recording a decline of 200,000 in April this year - but a test run of similar crackdown measures in Latin America appeared to be a flop, as the company was forced to define exactly what is regarded as a 'household'.
Users in the regions of Peru, Chile and Costa Rica blasted the supplier, after a system asked them to pay an extra $2 to $3 when sharing log in details during a test stint. But after confusion over whether or not a household included families living in differing locations, Netflix clarified that a household could only be classed as 'exclusively people a subscriber lives with'.
Many continued to share their passwords, bypassing the charge without being detected, and one anonymous Peruvian customer service representative is alleged to have admitted doing this herself despite the change in policy.
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