Netflix backtracks on password-sharing crackdown amid backlash

Love is sharing a password, after all. Less than a week after Netflix announced its password-sharing crackdown, the streaming service is backtracking its new password guidelines amid backlash.

Many threatened to cancel their memberships, and Netflix has since changed its mind about the new password usage regulations.

In case you missed it, Netflix disclosed that all devices using the same account would need to be connected to the same 'home' network. Users would also need to log in and stream on the same Wi-Fi every 31 days or risk getting blocked.

Netflix's new tests track users checking in from different locations through IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity. It will then intervene if it thinks the account is being used by a non-household member.

Netflix has recently claimed that its new rules were accidentally posted. "For a brief time yesterday, a help centre article containing information that is only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, went live in other countries," a Netflix spokesperson told The Streamable. "We have since updated it."

Netflix has been testing anti-account sharing tools and charging fees in select markets. However, the spokesperson confirmed that if the company makes such a significant change, it will not begin implementing it without first communicating the details to customers.

Nevertheless, the streamer reports that the majority of these changes have seen "significant pushback" from their customers, especially frequent travellers, college students, and others wondering how the company would cater to them.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.

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