Netflix has not yet confirmed its plans to end password sharing

Based on information from Netflix’s support pages, published in a report The Streamable: appeared to confirm details of how it would implement anti-password sharing features in the US and elsewhere. However, Netflix has yet to reveal the details of its plan or what it might look like when it rolls out more widely this year.

Netflix spokeswoman Kumiko Hidaka said in a statement The Streamable: and: The Verge that “On Tuesday, a help center article containing information applicable only to Chile, Costa Rica and Peru was briefly published in other countries. We have since updated it.”

We already know that Netflix plans to make password sharing more widespread in the coming months. Netflix has been testing the program with subscribers in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru since early last year, where it began requiring users to pay a premium for additional users outside of the subscriber’s primary household.

In his report, The Streamable: cites this Netflix Help Center page as the source of the information. However, the information included in the article for US customers, visible on the Internet Archive page captured yesterday, does not match what is listed today. Right now, that information is only available on the test country pages in Central and South America.

Hidaka explained in an emailed statement The Verge that the text you see is applicable when Netflix introduced its Extra Member offer in March in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru, but not in the US or other countries where it’s not available. As for what else has been confirmed so far, he pointed to Netflix’s earnings announcement in January, saying that “later in the first quarter we expect to begin more widespread paid distribution.”

The rules on the archived page (and pages for countries with additional members) state that only people in your primary household can use one Netflix subscription. In order for multiple devices to use a single subscription, Netflix says you must “connect to Wi-Fi at your primary location, open the Netflix app or website, and watch something at least once every 31 days” on you and your devices. family members use to watch Netflix to stop blocking devices on “trusted devices” that you can use anywhere.

The US-based page, which we can access today, states that “people who don’t live in your household should use their own account to watch Netflix.” This is unlike the page for Costa Rica, Chile and Peru, which says that you are required to add an additional member for each one outside of your subscription. It also adds that it will use your IP address, device ID and account activity to determine when someone else is using your account.

Likewise, the currently available US support page for what Netflix considers a “household” differs significantly from the Costa Rica, Chile, and Peru pages. On its US page, the company only describes its concept of a household as “people who live in the same location as the account owner.” Meanwhile, the three South and Central American country pages provide more details on how to change your primary family, sign out of accounts on devices in different locations, or what might cause a device to be locked.

Here’s a look at what you can expect when Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing goes into effect worldwide, and what kind of headaches it could cause for people who just need to watch from multiple locations or people who like are using VPNs within their own privacy. houses.

But when it comes to how Netflix will try Force users in the US or other countries to buy sub accounts for all the exes, cousins, ex-roommates, and total strangers who hang out on our streaming accounts, it’s not ready to say.

Update February 2, 3:37 PM ET. Added announcement from Netflix about updates to support pages.