Netflix to start test-charging customers who share their passwords outside their households

Netflix,  an American subscription streaming and production service is about to launch a test aimed at cracking down on password-sharing outside of a user’s household.

On Wednesday, it said: “We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix account, with features like separate profiles and multiple streams in our Standard and Premium plans.”

“While these have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”

The test will start in the next few weeks in three countries: Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. The company will later evaluate whether to bring it to other markets as well.

Through the test, Netflix will start letting Standard and Premium plan customers add accounts for up to two people they don’t live with, for an extra monthly charge. These Extra Members will have their own profiles, personalised recommendations, and login and password.

The fee is 2,380 CLP (R44.50) in Chile, $2.99 (R44.65) in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN (R31.51) in Peru. Netflix notes this is cheaper than if the secondary users had gotten their own accounts.

Netflix will also let Basic, Standard, and Premium plan customers allow people sharing their account to transfer their profile information to a new account or an Extra Member sub account. When moving over, they’ll keep their viewing history, personalised recommendations, and My List.

Netflix prohibits password-sharing in its terms and conditions, but it has been lax with enforcing the policy over the years. In 2016, the company even said it was fine with users sharing their passwords as long as they didn’t sell them.

In recent years, though, Netflix has taken greater action against the practice.

Last year, the company tested a prompt on viewers using accounts owned by people outside their households. It read, “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching.” Users were then asked to either verify the account with a text or email code or to start their own Netflix trial.

The cost of getting your own Netflix account has risen recently. In January, the company raised the prices of its streaming plans in the US and Canada to help bankroll more original content.