Netflix has begun trying to combat the phenomenon of viewers sharing passwords

Photo: Ronen Mendzicki, Gadgeti

Netflix has decided that it’s time to fight against the common phenomenon of people sharing passwords to the platform, actually watching without paying through a friend’s or family member’s account. The GammaWire website has revealed that a number of users have started getting a requirement to prove that the account actually belongs to them or their family members. This is a screen that appears and requires verification of the user’s identity using a code that is sent to the account holder’s email or phone. Until the code is approved, Netflix recommends that the viewer join the service himself, with one month of free trial.

So far, users who have reported the verification screen have confirmed that they are able to click the “Verify Later” button which returns them to the regular Netflix home screen. It is not clear at this time how long the message can be ignored, but it is likely that in the end without the approval of the code the viewing will be blocked.

One of the biggest questions for legitimate Netflix users is who is actually included in the definition of the user’s home. A family account holder will share the account with his family, but many find that it is not necessarily a family living together in the same house. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has previously talked about the problematic definition and is fully aware that users share the password with spouses or children living in another home.

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Netflix’s new experience comes for both an economic reason – preventing free viewing, and for a safety reason. Netflix tries to help users whose passwords have been stolen or if their account has been used without their knowledge. Of course if you have shared the password consciously, it will be very easy to share the verification code as well. But Netflix’s assumption is that many are unaware of the amount of viewers on their account and that some viewers from someone else’s account are not necessarily in a position to ask them for additional code to continue the scam.

If so far Netflix has allowed itself to ignore the problem, the current era of competing streaming platforms confronts it with the need to better track its growth and the number of its subscribers. In the past, Netflix even claimed that according to their information, users who shared passwords ended up signing up for the service themselves in impressive numbers, thus actually constituting a sought-after audience for the platform. This information may have changed now, and the great competition from other platforms has caused these users to hold as many passwords as they can for free viewing – while they prefer to pay for another platform for which they do not have a generous friend password.

Currently the verification screen has only been reviewed by the company, and has not been reported by more than a number of users who have encountered it. But if you happen to still be watching Netflix through an account that is not yours, it may be time to plan for the future.