After months of uncertainty about when Netflix would begin its password-sharing crackdown in the U.S., we finally have our answer.
During its Q1 2023 earnings report on April 18, Netflix said it will begin a “broad rollout” of “paid sharing” plans in the United States starting in the second quarter, after initially pushing back those plans from the first quarter. In other words, expect Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing in the U.S. to begin sometime before July.
The move follows a growing series of password-sharing tests that began in 2021, when the streamer began asking users to verify their Netflix accounts using a four-digit code sent to the account holder. A “verify later” option let users keep streaming even if they didn’t have the code, but still, the test certainly raised eyebrows.
In March 2022, Netflix’s efforts to stem password sharing became more official, with the company announcing an option for account holders in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru to create reduced-priced “sub accounts” for up to two people outside their household.
Four months later, Netflix took a different tack, rolling out an “add a home” feature that let Netflix subscribers in five Latin American countries “buy” more homes in which they–or others–could use the same Netflix account.
And during its third-quarter earnings call in October 2022, Netflix confirmed that it would start charging account sharers starting in “early 2023.”
In a related development, Netflix announced a new “Profile Transfer” tool that makes it easy for password sharers to transfer all their Netflix profile data, including their watch lists, histories, and recommendations, to a new account.
Most recently, Netflix rolled out account-sharing features in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain.
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