- Netflix emailed users on Tuesday with details about its new "profile transfer" feature.
- The feature allows people using a shared password to move their profile to a paid membership.
Netflix recently made it easier for subscribers to cut ties with people mooching off of their accounts.
The company sent out an email to all of its users on Tuesday detailing its new "profile transfer" feature, which subscribers can now turn on to allow people using a shared password to transfer their profile to their own paid membership.
"Now people on your account can transfer a profile — including recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, settings and more — to their own membership that they pay for," the email said.
In other words, if you go through a breakup, you don't have to lose all your settings on your profile from your ex's account.
Opting into the feature won't block or sign out others from using your account. But it is Netflix's nice way of pushing subscribers to remove non-paying members from their accounts, as the company cracks down on password sharing.
During the first two quarters of the year, Netflix lost subscribers. It partially blamed the losses on password sharing, and estimated in its Q1 earnings report that at least 100 million people globally were using Netflix through a password shared with them.
Netflix turned a corner in Q3, adding over 2 million subscribers, but the account-sharing crackdown is still a priority. Profile transfer is just one strategy.
Starting early next year, Netflix will begin charging for password sharing, meaning it will charge an additional fee on top of a member's monthly subscription for any additional user.
It could likely look like a test feature in some Central and South American countries, which charges $3 for each extra user on a person's account.