14 DAY TRIAL // We’ve known for a while that Netflix wanted to restrict account sharing, and given such experiments are already live in a series of countries, such as Peru, everybody expects the same approach to launch everywhere across the world eventually.
When a support article documenting the new restrictions went live in the U.S. a few days ago, users out there believed the time has come for Netflix to expand its controversial approach.
But according to Netflix, this isn’t happening. Or at least, not yet, as the company says that the information was published on the support page because of a mistake.
“For a brief time yesterday, a help center article containing information that is only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, went live in other countries,” a Netflix spokesperson was quoted as saying by The Streamable. “We have since updated it.”
Netflix tight-lipped on when it could enforce the new policy
Of course, the company hasn’t provided any other information as to when it could enforce the new rules in the United States as well, but given the backlash, it’s very clear this will be a very tough decision.
Netflix said in the support document that it wants to identify the account owner using a set of data like the IP address, the IDs of the devices used to connect to the service, and the account activity.
“People who do not live in your household will need to use their own account to watch Netflix,” the company says. “When a device outside of your household signs in to an account or is used persistently, we may ask you to verify that device before it can be used to watch Netflix or switch your Netflix household. We do this to confirm that the device using the account is authorized to do so.”