Netflix launches crackdown on users who share their passwords with friends and family

NETFLIX users who share their passwords with friends and family are facing a crackdown launched by the US streaming giant.

The company is s testing a feature designed to root out account sharers, meaning that if you borrow someone's login, you may soon have to pay for your own account in full instead.

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Some users this week reported being met with a screen reading: "If you don't live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching."

Viewers are reportedly given the option to verify their identity through a code sent to the account's owner, or can choose to complete the process later.

In a statement, Netflix said: "This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorised to do so."

Netflix has previously said it was comfortable with users sharing their passwords.

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Speaking in 2016, CEO Reed Hastings said the company had "no plans" on a crackdown.

He said: "Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with, because there's so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids.

"So there's no bright line, and we're doing fine as is."

According to the Netflix terms of service, account details should "not be shared with individuals beyond your household".

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In the UK, a monthly subscription ranges in cost from £5.99 to £13.99, depending on the package.

Netflix already offers some account-sharing features, designed to let people in a single household use one login.

Profiles let users switch between their own browsing history.

But the company is becoming increasingly concerned about the number of users sharing their logins among different households.

Speaking in 2019, Netflix product chief Greg Peters said the firm wants to address password-sharing without "alienating a certain portion of [the] user base".

"We continue to monitor it so we're looking at the situation," he said.

"We'll see those consumer-friendly ways to push on the edges of that."

Netflix, boosted by months of lockdown, has more than 203million subscribers, making it the world's leading streaming service.

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