The biggest hurdle for Netflix to stop sharing passwords? Defining a “household”

Netflix is ​​trying a way to encourage people to get their own accounts and convert sharing passwords into paying customers.

This is easier said than done – although the company offers subscription subscriptions in certain countries that allow sharing passwords to return an existing subscriber account for a few pounds.

The idea is to stop the crowd of users who are abandoning the platform amid rising prices, increased competition and fatigue when it comes to the original range of Netflix content.

However, tests in Costa Rica, Chile and Peru are not going very well, according to The rest of the world report. It all comes down to different definitions of what a household is.

While it can be considered to mean a nuclear family – hence why so many grown children share their parents’ accounts and vice versa – Netflix believes that these should be people who live under one roof.

This is the current goal of converting sharing passwords, but it seems to be inapplicable at the moment. Many users in test countries simply ignore their account validation requests and continue to be charged for only one subscription, even though they share with many friends.

“As we began working on paid sharing more than 18 months ago, we knew for five years that a Netflix account was for people living together in the same household,” said a Netflix spokesman. Business Insider.

“Millions of members who actively share an account in these countries have been notified by email, but given the importance of this change, we are increasing the notifications in the product more slowly. We are pleased with the response so far. “

Netflix is ​​likely to face similar problems – perhaps even legal ones – when defining what a household is. The way Netflix’s efforts are diminishing is likely to inform other streaming services to take similar action to suppress password sharing.