After nearly a year of warnings and testing, Netflix has finally launched its password-sharing crackdown in the United States.
The streamer had originally planned to introduce “paid sharing” to U.S. subscribers in the first quarter of this year but pushed the start date back to the summer, after seeing cancellations in markets where it had already launched the changes. Under the new rules, U.S. subscribers will have to either kick people off their Netflix account or pay $7.99/month for an additional membership for those outside their main household.
Similar changes will roll out to dozens of global markets in the coming weeks and months.
The company offers tools to make this transition easier, including a way for current subscribers to view which devices are signed into their account and remove those that shouldn’t have access, as well as tools to reset their password.
People who are using an account on the go will need to log in from the primary address once every 31 days to avoid being flagged.
There will be no penalty for primary account members who are caught sharing their credentials. The company will just stop the people they are sharing with from being able to stream. People who want to start their own accounts have the option to transfer their profile so they can pick up on whichever episode of “Selling Sunset” they were watching last.
