Netflix Profile Transfer Feature Hints at Upcoming Account Sharing Crackdown

[MacRumors]

Netflix has announced a new feature called Profile Transfer, allowing users to move their personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, and other settings to a new account.

Netflix is pitching the feature as an easy way for users to transition to a new account if their living circumstances change and they can't or no longer want to share an account with someone else in the same household. From the press release:

People move. Families grow. Relationships end. But throughout these life changes, your Netflix experience should stay the same. Today, we’re launching Profile Transfer, a feature that lets people using your account transfer a profile — keeping the personalized recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, and other settings — when they start their own membership.

As The Verge notes, it's not hard to infer an ulterior motive for Profile Transfer, given the company's stated intent to crack down on account sharing. The feature guides users through the process of starting a new Netflix account from an existing profile, which is what they would presumably be required to do when Netflix begins restricting access to subscribers who share the same household.

Netflix in April said that it lost subscribers in the first quarter of the year, and it marked the first subscriber loss for Netflix in more than a decade. Netflix lost 200,000 subscribers, and said it expected to lose two million more in the second quarter.

The subscriber loss was partially attributed to account sharing, and Netflix estimates that 222 million paying households are sharing with an additional 100 million households that are not being monetized.

Netflix started testing an extra payment for those who share their Netflix accounts with people outside their households in March. In Netflix's current test markets of Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, customers can pay an extra fee to share their accounts with two people outside of their household.

When the test was launched, Netflix said that it was working to "understand the utility of these two features" before making changes in other countries. Notably, Profile Transfer has been in testing since March in the same three countries, and is now rolling out more broadly. Other features geared towards monetization are expected to follow in its wake.

Article Link: Netflix Profile Transfer Feature Hints at Upcoming Account Sharing Crackdown

 

[winxmac]

If this was for done out of concern/good intentions, why was it not available early on? Should have been made available since 2010's

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

That is still not going to convince me to renew my Netflix membership account.

The subscription will stay terminated for a very long time. Lost my trust after they got money hungry 💰.

 

[dejmo78]

If Netflix would put as much focus on content that they do on account sharing crack down, then maybe they could salvage their downfall. But with so many better (and even cheaper) options, there really is no need to be subscribed to their service anymore. Especially, since they are still charging extra for 4K - which is another nonsense all together.

 

[ashdelacroix]

Netflix became greedy. Losing more and more content, meaning I had to subscribe to other services, and then putting up prices again and again! So, no, Netflix, your time is up.

 

[Berti10]

Like YouTube, Netflix is in its late Fall.

No quality content, just money grab, Ads, and ridiculous pricing for content bloated with Channel sponsors and product placements.

 

[Realityck]

As The Verge notes, it's not hard to infer an ulterior motive for Profile Transfer, given the company's stated intent to crack down on account sharing. The feature guides users through the process of starting a new Netflix account from an existing profile, which is what they would presumably be required to do when Netflix begins restricting access to subscribers who share the same household

This gets interesting as the timing of this utility pairs with the $6.99 USD subscription to get some freeloader away from you account or you want discontinue a relative having access to what you are paying for. Hey some cease to be friends after so long too.

 

[bevel]

I’m sure they realise they’re on a knife edge

They try and milk their users too much and they’re gonna have a Digg v4 on their hands 🤓🍿

 

[contacos]

How about stop charging me for a "family" account as a single to get 4K then. Idiots. It is almost schizophrenic. They demand us to stop sharing an account but at the same time they do not offer a proper single option

 

[Realityck]

Btw this Netflix news came out this yesterday morning, and now it almost 2am (PST) the following day. See earlier post

 

[chenks]

still curious as to how they can accurately detect that "password sharing" is taking place.
you are allowed to use your own netflix account no matter where you are, and depending on the account you are allowed multiple streams at multiple locations - this is permitted in the Ts&Cs.

so how exactly are they going to tell if what you are permitted to do is not what is actually happening.

 

[Beatrix Kiddo]

That is still not going to convince me to renew my Netflix membership account.

The subscription will stay terminated for a very long time. Lost my trust after they got money hungry 💰.

What were you expecting? All corporates are money hungry. Some are just professional so that they make you think otherwise.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

If they stop account sharing I’ll be cancelling my subscription. Everyone on my plan don’t really watch enough individually to even justify a $5 subscription.

 

[MathersMahmood]

Looks like I’ll cancel my plan then.

 

[ElCidRo]

I share with two others. If they go this route they will not gain 2 extra subs, they will actually lose one. Tough luck!

 

[cicalinarrot]

Amazon rewarded me for being a decade old loyal Prime member with a $14 price increase in my country and removing some features.
I canceled my Prime membership, it won't be a great deal to kiss Netflix goodbye too.

 

[joshy123]

still curious as to how they can accurately detect that "password sharing" is taking place.
you are allowed to use your own netflix account no matter where you are, and depending on the account you are allowed multiple streams at multiple locations - this is permitted in the Ts&Cs.

so how exactly are they going to tell if what you are permitted to do is not what is actually happening.

they will just cause havoc, Your allowed to use the same account in the 1 household, so what if one is using home wifi and the other cellular, two different ip's or for those households who have more then one ISP at one stage i had two different ones split between family members for gaming ect

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

I share with two others. If they go this route they will not gain 2 extra subs, they will actually lose one. Tough luck!

This is what I was thinking.
A tier that specifically allows you to share with x people for a euro/dollar/pound more (or something like that) while they crack down on sharing with all other accounts would have made more sense to me.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

I'm literally on a family sharing plan. I live abroad but part of the reason we are under the same plan is because my family isn't that good at technical stuff so I manage the account. Plus it's cool to sometimes see what my mom and little sister are watching.

It's shameful. I'm paying for my family to use the account with me. What family lives in one single place these days?

How about attracting new customers rather than making your current customers' experience more and more miserable?

 

[chenks]

I share with two others. If they go this route they will not gain 2 extra subs, they will actually lose one. Tough luck!

that's a bit non-sensical.
so because 2 others can't use your account you'll cancel your account which you can still use?

 

[StoneJack]

I am paying highest amount for Netflix and very much satisfied with the service. Prime is so so and I don't watch AppleTV at all, though subscribed (a moment of madness, I know). Netflix and Youtube are generally all we watch in our household.

 

[bobbyjack]

that's a bit non-sensical.
so because 2 others can't use your account you'll cancel your account which you can still use?

How is this non-sensical ?

If it's three people paying for one account, or if he took the account specifically to share it among his family members?

I have an account just for my dad, I don't really use Netflix. Sometimes I watch a movie, but rarely, these films are the same, they are generic, bland, and a week later I've already forgotten what's on.

If I can't share Netflix with my dad anymore, of course I'll unsubscribe. My dad is from a generation where this kind of subscription is superfluous, and I already got him a Prime and Disney+ account, so another account lost.

EDIT: I have to add that my friends ALL share their account, and none of them will continue if they use this method in France. Some of them don't have much money, why would they continue with this platform instead of subscribing to Prime/Disney+/Apple TV, and continue to share their accounts?

 

[Lee_Bo]

still curious as to how they can accurately detect that "password sharing" is taking place.
you are allowed to use your own netflix account no matter where you are, and depending on the account you are allowed multiple streams at multiple locations - this is permitted in the Ts&Cs.

so how exactly are they going to tell if what you are permitted to do is not what is actually happening.

Any streaming service can see the name of the device and location its logged in from.

In my case, Netflix sees MyiPhone and MyAppleTV logged in from one county and MySonsiPhone logged in two counties over at the same time. Not a big deal for me if Netflix charges me a few more dollars to share my account with my son. It’s still cheaper then two separate accounts.

 

[chenks]

i don't believe that "family sharing" is what is being talked about here, as family sharing is permitted in the Ts&Cs.
what they are talking about is multiple people sharing the one account that aren't part of the same family group.

however, it's still non-sensical to cancel your own account just because someone else would no longer be able to use it. you can simply downgrade it to the single stream plan thus not having to rely on others subsidising the plan cost.

with regards to people not having much money, Netflix is hardly something you should be spending money on if you can't afford it, regardless if you can share it or not.

 

[chenks]

Any streaming service can see the name of the device and location its logged in from.

In my case, Netflix sees MyiPhone and MyAppleTV logged in from one county and MySonsiPhone logged in two counties over at the same time. Not a big deal for me if Netflix charges me a few more dollars to share my account with my son. It’s still cheaper then two separate accounts.

correct, yes it can. but netflix permits the use of your account (plan permitting) to be used by more then 1 person at more than 1 location.

so how can they tell if it is being used as per the permitted use or not - they can't.

if i go on holiday but other family member (in the same house) doesn't then we can both use netflix as per the permitted plan use - that's 2 devices in 2 different countries at the same time.