Netflix is starting to make it harder to share Netflix accounts. The popular streaming platform is testing an additional level of verification for accounts.
Obviously, the goal is for borrowers to sign up and pay their own subscriptions. The alert offers the opportunity to join the service with a free 30-day trial or to verify that you are the owner of the account using a two-factor authentication system. The code is sent to the respective owner by SMS or by email.
If multiple people share an account, the person managing the account would have to forward the authorization code to the person who needs it. In the long run, this can become a nuisance for everyone involved. It is currently unknown how often Netflix plans to conduct such checks.
The funny thing is that the message also shows the option to “Verify later.” However, it is unknown how many times the message can be ignored or if there is a risk of being blocked.
The Streamable contacted Netflix for more information, and this is what they responded — “This test is designed to ensure that people who use Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.” At the moment, yes, the test is limited to televisions.
According to the terms of use, Netflix access “may not be shared with people who do not live in the same household.” However, many accounts are likely to be used across household boundaries. According to a survey conducted by Netflix, up to 50% of its users have shared — or are sharing — accounts.
