Netflix's Crackdown on Sharing Passwords Has Started Rolling Out in Australia

The next email you receive from Netflix mightn't be telling you what to watch. Instead, beginning Wednesday, May 24, the streaming platform is contacting all of its Australian customers about its new password sharing rules. Promised for a few years now, and originally expected to kick in by the end of March this year, the service is cracking down on letting people from different households use the same account — effective immediately.

Accordingly, if you've been enjoying someone else's Netflix subscription to get your Stranger Things, Squid Game and Wednesday fix or work your way through its hefty slate of movies — or letting your mates or siblings use your logins — your current streaming situation is changing. The password-sharing functionality will still exist; however, it'll come at an extra cost, involving paying $7.99 per month to add an extra member to your account.

Netflix now advises that "a Netflix account is meant to be shared by people living together in one household" — and you can set up and define your household in the platform's settings. If you don't set one yourself, it'll do so for you based on your IP address, device IDs and account activity, which is what it'll also use to monitor if someone is using your details from elsewhere. That said, for folks who don't actually watch Netflix via a TV, you won't need to worry about the household requirement, but the password-sharing change still applies.

To add people outside your household to your account, you'll buy an extra member slot. The caveats: they have to be activated in the same country where the account owner created their account, and you can't add them to ad-supported plans (or Netflix-included packages or third-party billed accounts). So, if you've opted for the service's cheaper option since it rolled out in late 2022, your pals won't be able to share — but they can transfer their profile on your account to their own new account.

That transferring functionality applies to everyone who decides to sign up themselves after sharing someone's password, and will port over recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games and settings.

Clearly, the main motivation is to increase subscriptions. The new password-sharing block was called "paid sharing" by Netflix in a letter to shareholders, after all.

"Today's widespread account sharing (to 100 million-plus households) undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve Netflix, as well as build our business," the company states in that shareholder letter, which is dated January 19, 2023.

"While our terms of use limit use of Netflix to a household, we recognise this is a change for members who share their account more broadly. So we've worked hard to build additional new features that improve the Netflix experience, including the ability for members to review which devices are using their account and to transfer a profile to a new account. As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don't live with."

Of course, logging into your Netflix account from a place outside of your own household doesn't automatically mean you're sharing your password. You might be travelling and still want to get your streaming fix. Initially, needing a temporary access code was floated — but at the time of writing, the platform simply says that you can still "use Netflix as usual to watch on your portable devices — like a tablet, laptop, or mobile phone — or sign into a new TV, like at a hotel or a holiday rental" without explaining if or how the new password rules will have an impact.

The company does specify that if you have a second home or frequently travel to the same location, you'll need to connect to the internet and open the Netflix app on your mobile device in both the main spot you watch the service and in the second location

Netflix's password-sharing crackdown is coming into effect in Australia from Wednesday, May 24. Head to Netflix for more details.