Netflix tests policy to discourage password sharing

The Netflix logo
(Image credit: ALASTAIR PIKE/AFP via Getty Images)

Netflix is testing a way to get people to stop sharing their passwords to let other people use their accounts without paying. The streaming video service is posting an on-screen notification when some people try logging on with the credentials outside their household, asking, "Is this your account?" The message then informs the would-be viewer that they need their own account if they don't live with the account's owner. The non-subscriber can then create their own account, with a 30-day trial in some areas.

"This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so," a company spokesperson said in a statement. The Streamable, which first reported the policy, said only connected-TV subscribers have run into the paywall notification so far.

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Harold Maass

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 launch of the U.S. print edition. Harold has worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, Fox News, and ABC News. For several years, he wrote a daily round-up of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance. He lives in North Carolina with his wife and two sons.