Last week, Netflix announced plans to change its password sharing policy among family users. New account sharing protocols listed in the Help Center would require users to verify all devices attached to a specific account. Essentially, Netflix would be checking to make sure users’ devices are all in the same house or attached to the same network.
This would shut out college kids or kids traveling because their devices would no longer be on the home network. Netflix’s new policy encourages users to setup a separate subscriber account for those viewers outside the home.
Well, a Netflix spokesperson clarified this policy change, citing the new policy only applies to subscribers living in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. That’s only after subscribers realized they’d need to verify their device every month, making the services ridiculously inconvenient, and shutting out college students.
Furthermore, co-CEO Greg Peters came out to explain the new policy only affected users who were giving out their passwords to people who weren’t paying for the service. He had to clarify this after the search term, ‘cancel netflix subscription’, shot up in the ranks. Search analysis shows a 733% increase in the term since the new policy announcement. Don’t get too excited. I’d expect this roll out a little more quietly next time around.
With so many content makers starting their streaming services, and hoarding their movies so Netflix can’t show them, this may be a motivator for people HBO and Cli-maxing, instead of Netflix and Chill-ing.