Netflix cracks down on password sharing with extra charges

Streaming giant announces new measures to stop people from sharing passwords.

Four million UK Netflix subscribers have received notification of Netflix’s new stance on the sharing of passwords.

A statement from Netflix read: “A Netflix account is for use by one household. Everyone living in that household can use Netflix wherever they are – at home, on the go, on holiday – and take advantage of new features like Transfer Profile and Manage Access and Devices.”

Under the new measures, users found to have shared their password with people outside of their household will be charged an additional £4.99 a month.

According to data from research firm Digital-i, a quarter of Netflix’s 15 million UK subscribers are estimated to share their passwords with people outside of their households.

Netflix, which is the world’s biggest streaming service had already begun its crackdown on password sharing in Latin America, New Zealand, Spain, Portugal and Canada.

The streaming service was founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California. It started out by renting DVDs via post before moving into direct streaming. With over 230 million subscribers worldwide Netflix is rated as the eighth-most trusted brand globally by Morning Consult, a global business intelligence company.