Rosario Monachino
Netflix has announced changes to how its account sharing will work following the backlash.
The streaming giant is one of the biggest companies in the world and has a ton of binge-worthy programmes for people to watch, including Wednesday, Stranger Things and Squid Game.
However, it’s facing a ton of criticism after announcing that it will be looking at making changes to how users can share accounts.
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Initial plans stated that users will only be able to account share if they are from the same household.
So if families are spread across different households, users would have to log in on their device from their home Wi-Fi network (the address where the account is linked to) once every 31 days.
If users failed to do this, it could lead to their Netflix account getting blocked.
Following the backlash, Netflix has backtracked on this plan and shared a new update.
On its website, a statement titled ‘An Update on Sharing’ has been released and it clarifies how Netflix will work going forward.
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Chengyi Long, the Director of Product Innovation at Netflix, starts by saying the company has ‘always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix accounts’.
It goes on to say that ‘over 100 million households are sharing accounts’ and because of this its ‘ability to invest in great new TV and films‘ has been impacted.
To solve the matter, Netflix is rolling out a new rule in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain after an initial crackdown in Latin America.
Apparently, the platform will introduce five different ways users can manage which people access their accounts.
Netflix says its users will need to set up a primary location, which ensures anyone living in the same household can use the subscription.
Members can also manage who accesses their account by going to Manage Devices and Accounts page.
Netflix has also taken into consideration that each viewer will have personalised recommendations, a watch list, and might be in the middle of watching a series.
So it will be introducing a feature that will allow users to transfer a user profile to a brand-new, paid-for account.
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Viewers have also been left concerned about not being able to watch Netflix while they are abroad.
To combat this, the streaming platform has assured members that they can still ‘easily watch’ TV and films on their personal devices or by logging into a new TV when away from home.
The final thing Netflix has announced is that it is possible for members who have the Standard or Premium plan to add an extra member ‘sub account’ for up to two people that don’t live in their household.
Each extra member will be able to have their own password and profile with all the features that any regular account would have.
This extra member costs CA $7.99 a month per person in Canada, NZ $7.99 in New Zealand, €3.99 in Portugal, and €5.99 in Spain.
Netflix is yet to announce when this will be coming into the fold in countries such as the UK and the US.
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