Netflix have started testing a new method of tackling password sharing in Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic.
A support page for Netflix in Honduras has stated that the test will prompt users to pay an additional fee if they use an account on a TV or TV-connected device at a location outside their primary household for over two weeks. Each additional home will cost an extra 219 pesos per month, per home in Argentina ($1.17 US), and $2.99 anywhere else.
As Netflix have stated, in the test areas, subscriber accounts have one primary “home” where they can access Netflix across any devices in the home, as well as travel and use Netflix on laptops and mobile devices elsewhere without the extra step. The test will allow users to purchase additional “homes,” which they choose to add or skip to use the service on TV screens.
The Netflix support page explains the process:
Add an extra home
Beginning August 22, 2022, when you sign in to Netflix on a TV outside of your home, you will see the option to add the extra home for an additional fee per month.
If you will only be using this TV for a limited time, you can watch Netflix for up to 2 weeks at no extra charge as long your account has not been previously used in that location. After that time, the TV will be blocked unless you add the extra home.
The support site also details how Netflix will determine a “home.” They define it as “a physical location – like your house – where you can use your Netflix on any of your devices.”
Lower on the support page, they explain what Netflix does to detect use at a different “home.”
How Netflix detects homes
We use information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity.
If you are using a device within your included home and still see a message that says that too many homes are using your account, you can:
Make sure that the device is connected to the same internet connection as the other devices in the home.
Make sure that the device is not connected to a VPN, proxy, or any unblocker service.
Netflix explain that use from a TV outside your home while “travelling” is eligible without any further charge for up to two weeks, “as long as your account has not been previously used in that location. This is allowed once per location per year.”
In these test countries, Netflix is also working on a feature that will allow you to track where your account is being used and restrict access. If you’re on the ‘Basic’ plan, you can add one extra home, if you’re on the ‘Standard’ plan, you can add up to two, and on ‘Premium’, you can add up to three.
“It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly,” Chengyi Long, Netflix’s director of product innovation, stated. “But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service.”
In May, a report from Rest of World revealed confusion among subscribers who are part of the experiment in Peru. Some subscribers were reportedly unsure about Netflix’s definition of a “household,” while others were able to get around a prompt meant to validate account owners.
Netflix first announced it would be testing ways to charge for password sharing in March, just a few weeks after it announced price expansion for US customers. Netflix have also announced a planned advert-supported subscription option and, just last week said it would partner with Microsoft to manage its advertisements.
Netflix reported in April that, after a subscription boom during the early stages of the pandemic, they had lost subscribers for the first time in more than a decade.
