Netflix has mistakenly released a set of guidelines to crack down on password sharing with global users.
The streaming service said the guidelines being tested in ChilePeru and Costa Rica were accidentally posted to their help center pages, including in the US, on Wednesday, but have since been removed.
“Yesterday, for a brief time, a help center article containing information that only applies to Chile, Costa Rica and Peru was published in other countries. We have since updated it.”
Since last year, Netflix has been testing “payment sharing” in the three countries where the account holder pays for an additional person, located outside of the account holder’s home, to access the service. In Costa Rica the fee is $2.99 (£2.44) per month.
To ensure that a Netflix account is not shared outside of the home where it is registered, the trial version requires users to connect their viewing device, such as a TV, mobile phone or tablet, to their home Wi-Fi, open the Netflix app Netflix. and watch something on the streaming service at least once every 31 days.
Although Netflix has yet to reveal its plans to tackle account sharing around the world, the test is the closest indication of what a global approach might look like.
Netflix, which has 230 million subscribers worldwide, said last month that sharing accounts “undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve Netflix.” He said that more than 100 million households were sharing accounts and that in the first three months of 2023 he hoped to roll out paid sharing in other countries.
“As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay more if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with,” the company said. Netflix said it recognized the account sharing restrictions would be “a change for members who share their account more broadly.”
