Beginning in 2023, Netflix will implement a new policy in order to make up for the loss of revenue in recent years. Since increasing their prices this past January, Netflix has admitted to losing over 600,000 American and Canadian users, partially due to the ability of password-sharing. This new policy attempts to stop this. So for us college students, this probably means saying goodbye to our parents’, friends’, or even an exes’ Netflix account. If you are sharing an account or confused about whether you are or not, you have come to the right place! Here is everything you need to know about the new policy:
As of right now, Netflix allows for one account holder to add up to five profiles to their account usually consisting of each member of the family or anyone password-sharing. Since this new policy’s goal is to ensure that each account is only held by one household, Netflix will still allow for this, but at an extra cost, of course. If you are currently sharing an account with anyone and want to create your own, you can move your profile to a new account entirely. If you prefer to continue to share this account, you can add an extra profile for an increased cost.
Netflix has already tested this new policy in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, El Savador, and Guatemala. Users in these countries are paying $2.99 per month to add additional profiles to their accounts. Whether that price will carry over to the United States is unknown.
The question most people have and are going to ask is how will Netflix know if you continue to share accounts and passwords? Netflix has said that they determine the one household by location or primary residence that is listed under the account. If Netflix sees a pattern in which one account is using multiple locations or residences, they will reach out to either add an extra profile or close out the account. While not illegal to continue doing so, it is against Netflix’s Terms of Use which is agreed upon when creating the account. With that said, Netflix can cancel your account.
This is not the only change Netflix will be making in 2023. To further increase revenue, users will have a chance to opt for a cheaper subscription with ads or a more expensive subscription with no ads. For current users used to no ads, this can incentivize them to opt for the more expensive, no-ads subscription. For those who do not currently have Netflix, a cheaper subscription would incentivize them to subscribe, even with ads.
The exact release date has not been announced yet, but I guess this means we all have a very important question to ask: Is the next season of You or Outer Banks worth it?