Netflix will implement a new feature that will make it impossible to share passwords. The streaming giant hopes to start rolling out this change in the US in early 2023. Information comes from the US newspaper The Wall Street Journal.
The company will ask users who use the account with other IP addresses and device IDs for a verification code. This code will be sent to the main account holder and must be entered within 15 minutes.
Netflix also made a cheaper plan worth BRL18.90. This new plan features a discounted catalog and includes ads.
This is the first time a company in the streaming business has implemented password sharing measures.
One of the company’s CEOs, Ted Sarandos, told investors in early December that he was aware that consumers “won’t like this policy right away.”
According to data from analysts at investment bank Cowen Inc., this move could generate $721 million in additional revenue for Netflix over the next year from US and Canadian users alone.
The company signaled possible changes in the “sharing culture” in 2019 when it noticed a decline in subscribers in the second half of the year. At the time, the company requested an internal investigation to explain the reason for the decline. The research team discovered that one of the reasons was password sharing.
Before defining the new measures, Netflix examined the implementation of various mechanisms to avoid the practice of sharing. Among other things, the company could request fingerprint or facial recognition to authenticate the account, Forbes reported in October 2022.