The company through an email posted on its blog recently, said it is now sending out emails to all US subscribers who share passwords with people outside their household, as part of a long-planned move to limit password sharing.
“Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with your household,” the email reads.
Netflix previously turned a blind eye to password sharing because it was fueling growth. To share an account with someone outside a household, a user can transfer a profile to a new membership that they pay for or else add an extra member to their account for an additional $7.99 monthly fee.
However, recently, it said that it was going to crack down on password sharing because it hurts its bottom line. It has previously been estimated that more than 100 million households worldwide share an account.
Netflix warned that it would be tightening its guidelines on password sharing in a push to boost revenue and subscriber numbers, soon after the company began seeing growth stagnate.
Originally, Netflix was expected to roll out its crackdown on people who borrow other accounts to create their own profiles late in the first quarter, but alerted investors and customers during an earnings call last month that it was pushing the move until the second quarter.
The streamer has said more than 100 million households share accounts, which is about 43% of its global user base which has affected its ability to invest in new content.
