Netflix's Latin American password-sharing clampdown trial hints at how the upcoming rollout might work, including primary locations and special-access codes for traveling
- Netflix said last month that it expects to roll out paid sharing more broadly by the end of March.
- Paid sharing is being tested in Latin America, where it costs up to $3 to add an extra member.
With around eight weeks left before Netflix is expected to more widely roll out plans to stop free password-sharing, a trial in Latin America gives an indication of how it might implement the changes around the world.
Netflix's help sections for Peru, Costa Rica, and Chile — where the streaming company has been trialing the changes — explains how it uses IP addresses and device IDs to detect where the account is being accessed from.
Users in the trial areas need to set up a "primary location" through their TV, verified through email or text message. If anyone is trying to access a Netflix account from outside its primary location, then their device will be blocked.
Netflix also tells customers in trial locations that they should watch something every 31 days, or their device could stop being linked to their primary location.
"If you are traveling or live between different places, you can continue to enjoy Netflix," the help section adds. It also says that users can request a temporary-access code which lasts for a week, and they can change the primary location at any time through a TV. Alternatively, customers should "consider adding an extra member to your account."
Under paid sharing, users can let people from outside their household use their account for an additional fee. In a letter to shareholders dated January 19, Netflix said it expects to "roll out paid sharing more broadly" by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
The company also pointed out that its terms of use already limit account use to a single household, but "we recognize this is a change for members who share their account more broadly."
It is unclear if the broader rollout of password-sharing controls will be exactly like the trial being conducted in Latin America. Netflix declined to comment when contacted by Insider.
In the countries where Netflix has trialed paid sharing it costs $2 to $3 to add an extra member, the company said. However, some Peruvian Netflix subscribers told Rest of World that they hadn't been subject to any enforcement of the password-sharing ban.
This expected rollout follows the November launch of an ad-supported subscription tier, where users are showed up to five commercials an hour. At $7 a month, "Basic With Ads" costs $3 less than the cheapest ad-free tier.