The news we’ve all been dreading is finally here: password sharing on Netflix could soon be a thing of the past, with the streamer beginning to crack down on this practice in the UK. 

On Tuesday (23 May), the streaming service sent a message to around 4 million British subscribers thought to be sharing their login details with friends and family outside of their household, according to The Guardian. 

A similar message was previously sent to Netflix users in other territories, South America among them, last year, and was later rolled out in countries including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Portugal and Spain.

“Your Netflix account is for you and the people you live with – your household,” the message read. 

“You can easily watch Netflix on the go and when you travel, either on your personal devices or a TV at a hotel or holiday home.”

It’s potentially bad news, then, for people who have been sharing an account with far-flung family members or pals, as unless you’re living under the same roof, you are not part of the same ‘household’.

The streamer said that it will be possible to add a user who does not live in the same household onto an account for an extra £4.99 each month; you can also transfer a profile to a different paid account. 

When the news of the password-sharing crackdown broke previously, social media users had some very strong feelings about it. Many users resurfaced a Netflix promotion from back in 2017, where the streamer tweeted “Love is sharing a password,” pointing to the hypocrisy of the new guidelines.

In a letter to shareholders back in January, the company estimated that more than 100 million households worldwide are currently sharing accounts, and described how password sharing “undermines” the company’s “long-term ability to invest in and improve” its services, “as well as build our business”.

Could it really be the end of the sharing-is-caring era?

Images: Getty