From 20 July, United Arab Emirates (UAE) residents are being notified that they can no longer share their Netflix passwords beyond their homes, according to a report by the Khaleej Times.
The move is part of a broader initiative by the streaming giant to clamp down on the widespread practice of password sharing. A Netflix customer service representative confirmed to Khaleej Times that the new regulation is in effect as of 20 July.
Under the new rules, only people residing in the same home can share passwords and access the same Netflix account, as per the representative.
To enforce these rules, Netflix will be monitoring the WiFi networks and IP addresses of devices logged into each account.
The same policy has been rolled out in India, with Netflix reaching out to customers sharing their accounts outside of their households.
Prior to this, similar restrictions had been put in place in more than 100 countries, including major markets such as the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), France, Germany, Australia, Singapore, Mexico, and Brazil, according to Mashable.
However, Netflix has also introduced a new feature allowing paying customers to add an additional member from outside their household to their account, although for an extra monthly fee.
Mashable reported that this process has been made user-friendly, allowing members to transfer a profile to a new account while retaining their viewing history and personalized recommendations.
Netflix first launched this crackdown on password sharing earlier this year in its largest market, the US, in order to increase revenue.
Via Khaleej Times
