Streaming king Netflix has been cracking down on password-sharing and on Wednesday announced the latest measures.
Password-sharing is the friendly act of sharing your login credentials with someone outside your household who doesn’t pay for the service, and naturally, Netflix frowns on the practice. The company was happy to turn a blind eye to it when streaming was new and the competition was almost non-existent. But with big-name competitors like HBO Max and Disney+ and every old-school TV network going streaming, too, Netflix is getting serious.
Prepare to deal with some new rules.
The most important new rule is establishing the geographical location of your account. The new terms say, “A primary location is set by a TV that is signed into your account and is connected to your Wi-Fi network. All other devices signed into your account on that Wi-Fi network will be associated with your primary location and will be able to use Netflix.”
TechCrunch reports that “If a user doesn’t set a primary location or doesn’t have a TV, Netflix will automatically set a primary location based on IP address, device IDs and activity.”
This part seems like it will happen invisibly, without any required input on the part of the user.
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But then things get more complicated, at least for customers who stream on their mobile devices. The new terms say that “To ensure that your devices are associated with your primary location, connect to the Wi-Fi at your primary location, open the Netflix app or website, and watch something at least once every 31 days.”
Devices that don’t stream something on Netflix at least that often, and from the user’s primary residence, will generate a verification code when they do try to access the service. That code will have to be confirmed by the primary account holder before the unrecognized iPad or Galaxy phone is allowed on.
That’s a minor pain for certain users, and it isn’t clear whether the authorization must come from a device currently located at the account holder’s primary address. In other words, if my wife and I are traveling together and she wants to stream Netflix on a device that hasn’t streamed in more than 31 days, it’s unclear if I’d be able to approve her device from whatever beach we’re lazing on.
If someone has your password and has been using your account without your permission, Netflix has made it easy to see which devices are using your account — and for you to sign them out.
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