JAKARTA – Netflix's trial to crack down on password sharing among its users has reportedly confused some users. According to a report from Rest of World, the streaming service began experimenting with password-sharing solutions in Peru, Chile and Costa Rica last March, prompting customers in these markets to pay additional fees to enable streaming for others outside their homes using the same account.
Talking to more than a dozen Netflix subscribers in Peru, RoW found that most users were not officially aware of the policy change through emails or notifications sent by Netflix. Not even two months from Netflix's initial announcement.
The outlet also knows that Netflix's enforcement levels vary from user to user, with some users on shared accounts reporting that they ignored validation requests without penalty to account owners.
Another user told Rest of World that they never heard from the policy change and continued to share their account with no issues.
There is also confusion around Netflix's definition of "household" as some people may consider their immediate family members to be part of the household. Netflix is aware of that ambiguity.
An anonymous customer support representative in Peru reportedly told RoW that he had been asked to provide a verification code to customers calling about having someone in their home using their account from another location. This allows members outside the customer's home to continue to use the shared account for free.
"While we started working on paid sharing more than 18 months ago, we've been clear for five years that 'Netflix accounts are for people living together in the same household,'" Netflix spokeswoman Kumiko Hidaka said in an emailed statement. to The Verge.
“Millions of members actively sharing accounts in these countries have been notified by email, but given the importance of this change, we increased in-product notifications more slowly. We are pleased with the response so far," Hidaka said, as quoted by Netflix.
The cost for an additional account is less expensive than signing up for a new, separate account. Netflix charges an additional 2,380 CLP (Rp 42 thousand) in Chile, 2.99 dollars (Rp 44 thousand) in Costa Rica and 7.9 PEN (Rp 31 thousand) in Peru to add up to two users who are outside the household account holder.
A crackdown on password sharing is imminent after Netflix reported losing subscribers for the first time in more than a decade in its latest revenue report, though it still has 74.58 million subscribers in the US and Canada and 222 million globally.
Netflix is going through some changes as it seeks to find new subscribers — and struggles to keep the ones it has in the face of increasingly fierce competition.
Netflix executives reportedly informed employees that the company will introduce a cheaper, ad-supported streaming plan within this year, offering a cheaper way
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