All the alarms went off when Netflix announced that, unilaterally, it was going to prohibit sharing account between users who do not reside in the same dwelling. This announcement has made users fear for the future of their shared accounts And, really, it’s a normal reaction. But what happened after this discouraging announcement?
Nothing, nothing has happened. Netflix put on the table the changes that it implemented and will implement on the platform. What happens is that we are already in March 2023 and still no trace of the bans which, supposedly, are already underway within the streaming content platform.
In fact, it’s not just that you can still share your Netflix account despite the ban, it’s that Netflix is unable to locate people using shared accounts. Twitter, a social network owned by Elon Musk, has been filled with tweets in which users show that Netflix associates an incorrect location with them.
Logically, positioning thousands of people is complicated and even more so when it is consumed from a device such as a television that, in principle, does not have the technical characteristics to offer positioning at the same level as a smartphone. This is not a negative thing and, in fact, it works in favor of users when using Netflix.
With no real way of knowing the location of different devices, the plan to do away with shared accounts altogether doesn’t seem to be working the way Netflix hoped. This means that, after the company’s announcement, users can continue to share an account with family or friends.
Yes, Netflix asks users to set a primary location. This location, in principle, is the one that will be taken into account when limiting shared accounts within Netflix. Netflix will use the IP of this device to be able to limit the access of other devices, although at the moment they have not been applied.
The company rules are there and, even if they are not being applied, they may start to do so at any moment. Doing so would change the situation a lot and, in fact, although Netflix cannot know the exact location, what would happen is that any television that is not on the same network cannot use the same account.
The purpose of these new measures by Netflix is to get users to bet on the new plans that the company has launched. In fact, accessory accounts or also known as sub-accounts can be purchased, which will be able to access Netflix from a television that is not on the WiFi network.
It is not cheap to bet on this system of sub-accounts since They are 5.99 euros per month to be able to watch Netflix from a television outside the home. This new account, can be up to two, will have its own email and password. The price, for example, in case of having an account with four profiles, 17.99 euros per month, would go to 23.98 euros per month with this new account.
Despite being able to share a Netflix account even with the bans in place, there are a series of doubts that assail users. Nothing is clear except that the TV will be the device that Netflix will use as a beacon to remove shared accounts, but this may be tied to using the TV app.
Not all users use the application that comes with the television and, in fact, a percentage of people have an external device such as a Fire TV Cube or Google Chromecast with Google TV that can be taken home, for example, on vacation on the beach or in the countryside to be able to enjoy the different streaming services.
Taking this case into account, it makes even less sense that Netflix has endeavored to link the accounts to an IP address of a home network when, in principle, when carrying this device we would find that the rule of using the account would be complied with by people who share the same roof.
In short, the Netflix model is leaking in general when it comes to dealing with the specific location of the users. Despite the fact that the television will be the nerve center to be able to apply the restrictions, they have not yet begun to be applied and, for the moment, you can still share an account without this causing any kind of problem.
Although you can still share an account, this does not mean that Netflix has completely paralyzed its system to avoid this situation. In any of the cases, what happens is that so much because of the Netflix uploads, what may have to be considered is to change the streaming platform and bet on proposals such as Filmin.