Netflix rolls out password sharing crackdown in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain
A month ahead of the rumored rollout of its password-sharing crackdown, Netflix has officially begun executing its game plan in four countries: Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain.
On Feb. 9 (Philippine time), Netflix announced that it has launched an "add an extra member" option in these four countries. With the program, Standard or Premium subscribers "can add an extra member sub-account for up to two people they don't live with" for a fee.
Subscribers based in Canada would have to pay an extra CAD$7.99 (P326) a month per person, NZD$7.99 (P278) for those in New Zealand, Euro 3.99 ( in Portugal, and Euro 5.99 in Spain.
Each sub-account will be entitled to its own login, password, profile, and personalized recommendations.
The move comes after the Netflix began losing the "ability to invest in great new TV [shows] and films," with over "100 million households" sharing accounts worldwide.
"We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account with features like profiles and multiple streams. While these have been hugely popular, they’ve also created confusion about when and how you can share Netflix," the streaming giant said in its press release.
To certify that members sharing one account are from the same household (and would not need to sign up for b-accounts), users would have to set up the primary location of their account and manage who can access it from the app. If a user fails to do so, Netflix will automatically set up the location based on the account's IP address and device ID.
Users will still be able to watch Netflix from their personal devices or log into new TV’s at hotels or other locations by using one-time access codes.
Meanwhile, All account borrowers outside the household would then have to sign up and pay for a sub-account. In an interview with Variety, Netflix confirmed that failure to register would result in the borrower being blocked from the streaming platform.
Netflix initially tested its new account-sharing scheme in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru in May of last year. Just last month, the company's executives reported during its fourth-quarter earnings call that it will start converting borrowers into subscribers by the end of Q1 (or March) this year.
