Netflix has yet to confirm plans to stop password sharing

Based on Netflix info support pages, a report published by The Broadcast appeared to confirm details of how it will roll out anti-password sharing features in the US and elsewhere. However, Netflix has yet to announce the details of its plan or what it might look like when it rolls out more widely this year.

Netflix spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka said in a statement provided to The Broadcast and The edge that “For a brief period on Tuesday, a Help Center article containing information that only applies to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, went live in other countries. We have since updated it.

We already know that Netflix plans to roll out password sharing more widely in the coming months. Netflix has been testing the program with subscribers in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru since early last year, where it began requiring users to pay extra for additional users outside of Netflix’s primary household. the maid.

In his report, The Broadcast cites this Netflix Help Center page as the source of its information. However, the information included in the article for US customers – and visible on an Internet Archive page captured yesterday – does not match what is listed today. Currently, this information is only available on the Central and South American test country pages.

Hidaka explained in a statement emailed to The edge that the text seen is applicable where Netflix rolled out its “Extra Member” offer in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru in March, but not in the United States or other countries where this is not available. Regarding what’s been confirmed so far, she pointed to Netflix’s January results, saying that “later in the first quarter, we plan to start rolling out paid sharing more broadly.”

The rules on the archived page (and pages for countries where additional members are enabled) state that only people in your primary household can use a single Netflix subscription. For multiple devices to use a single subscription, Netflix says you must “connect to Wi-Fi at your primary location, open the Netflix app or website, and watch something at least once every 31 days” on devices you and your household members use to watch Netflix, to stop device blocks on “trusted devices” that you can use anywhere.

The US-focused page we can access today states that “people who don’t live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix.” This contrasts with the Costa Rica, Chile, and Peru page, which states that you must add an additional member for anyone using your subscription outside of your household. It also adds that it will use your IP address, device ID, and account activity to determine when someone else is using your account.

Similarly, the US support page currently available on what Netflix considers a “household” is very different from the pages in Costa Rica, Chile, and Peru. On the US page, the company only describes its idea of ​​a household as “people who live in the same place as the account owner.” Meanwhile, the three South and Central American country pages provide more details on how to change your primary household, sign out of accounts on devices in different locations, or what might entail. blocking a device.

This is a preview of what you might expect when Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing goes into effect globally and what kind of headaches it might bring for people who just need to watch. from multiple locations or to people who like to use VPNs in the privacy of their own homes.

But as far as how Netflix will try to pushing users in the United States or other countries to buy sub-accounts for all the exes, cousins, ex-roommates, and complete strangers who hitch a ride on our streaming accounts, it’s not ready to say .

Updated February 2, 3:37 p.m. ET: Added a statement from Netflix about support page updates.