- The OTT giant will prevent password sharing amongst the users.
- It plans to tighten the security measures to prevent fraudulent access to the platform.
Netflix boasts of having more than 200 million active users around the world. Many users have been sharing passwords with their friends and family. So that they can watch the movies using the password. Therefore the giant has planned to stop password sharing for both businesses as well as security reasons.
GammaWire first spotted this new feature that prevents unauthorized people from accessing it. “This test is designed to help ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so.”, the spokesperson of Netflix says to The Verge. If the popular OTT platform detects that the user is trying to access the account without being the owner of the account they will be asked to verify as an account owner through an email code or a text code.
If a user is unable to verify the account ownership within a specific time window, they won’t be able to accept any content on Netflix. This may not prevent the users from sharing their passwords yet an account owner would be able to send their friend or family member the code as it comes through.
Netflix’s enhanced security measures:
The test is not specific to any other country for a specific period of time. But it is being rolled out for enhanced security measures around the issue of protecting the account of the Netflix user. Through this measure, if a user is fraudulently trying to gain access to the account they won’t be able to access the account without the code. The Netflix subscribers might have one of the biggest questions about what constitutes a household account.
The content streaming on the platform is specifically for your personal and non-commercial use. Clear the household may mean a physical household, but the terms of services are not clarified. Families with kids away at college or staying in different states main register for a family plan for instance. This is one scenario that co-CEO Reed Hastings specifically addressed in 2016.
“Password sharing is something you have to learn to live with,” Hastings said. “There’s so much legitimate password sharing, like you sharing with your spouse, with your kids. So there’s no bright line, and we’re doing fine as is.”
However, the teams behind Netflix, are constantly trying to find out a way to battle some password sharing. Along with this, they are also addressing strong security measures. An analysis from Parks Associates estimates that alone password sharing has cost the OTT platform $9 billion alone. The same issue is with piracy concerns. Hastings along with other entertainment executives have shrugged it off as something that these platforms have to deal with. Yet, it looks like, with these security measures, things are going to change.
