Netflix’s anti-password sharing experiment in Peru reportedly leaves users confused

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a report from Rest of World, some users are confused by the test to crack down on password sharing. In March, the streaming service started experimenting with password-sharing solutions in three countries, prompting subscribers to pay an additional fee to enable streaming for others outside of their household.

Rest of World spoke to over a dozen users of the service and found that most of them didn't know about the policy change until after the initial announcement. The outlet learned that some users on shared accounts ignored validation prompts without penalty, but that the level of enforcement varied from user to user. A user told Rest of World that they never heard of a policy change and continued to share their account.

Some may consider their immediate family members to be part of the household, and it seems like the definition of a household is ambiguous. An anonymous customer support representative in Peru told Rest of World that she was asked to provide verification codes to subscribers who called in about having someone within their household using their account from another location. The shared account can be used for free by members outside of a subscriber's home.

While we started working on paid sharing over 18 months ago, we have been clear for five years that it's for people who live together in a single household. We are pleased with the response so far.

Signing up for a separate new account is cheaper than an additional account, which is supposed to make it seem more like a deal, and less like a way for Netflix to get more subscriber growth. In addition to the 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2,99USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN inPeru, you can also add up to two users located outside of an account holder's household.

In its most recent earnings report, the company reported that it lost subscribers for the first time in over a decade, though it still has 74.58 million subscribers in the US and Canada and 222 million worldwide. The company is going to have to undergo a lot of shifts as it tries to find new subscribers and hold onto the ones it has. After long-term subscribers have seen almost yearly price hikes, executives at the company told employees that they will introduce a cheaper plan within the year. It is trying to compete with the ever-growing Disney Plus.