Netflix has a tool that lets you kick people off your account
Netflix's big goal for 2023 is to crack down on password sharing and ultimately bring it to an end altogether, which is a move being welcomed by some viewers and a source of worry for others.
The streaming service wants every household that's watching their shows to actually pay their own way instead of relying on the network of informal agreements people build up over time.
Plenty of people share an account, with various friends and family all watching Netflix on different devices, but if that's the setup you've got then your days are very much numbered.
Netflix estimates that they've got around 230 million subscribers, but on top of that are about 100 million people who are watching off someone else's account.
Advert
While many of these people will be watching with the blessing of the person paying the bills, there will be many who aren't and there are all sorts of reasons you'd want to kick someone off your account anyway.
Maybe you've broken up with somebody and want them gone from all parts of your life, or perhaps you've just got so many people sharing your account that you can hardly ever use it yourself.
Or you might realise your Netflix account is infested with a bunch of strangers who have somehow gained access and are now watching cost-free to their heart's content.
This one is more common than you might realise, as according to the Wall Street Journal people have realised that strangers have been getting onto their Netflix in all sorts of ways.
One man sold a Tesla car and realised that the buyer was watching Netflix on his account with it, while someone else discovered people staying in an Airbnb after them were using their Netflix after they'd forgotten to log out.
Another person twigged something was wrong when Netflix started recommending them raunchy shows, and they realised people living in their old university accommodation had used their account to watch How To Build A Sex Room.
For cases like this Netflix's new tool allowing you to kick people off your account can come in handy.
All you've got to do is hop into Settings and find the one which says 'Manage Access and Devices', and then you should get a list of all the places you're signed into Netflix and with the click of a button you can sign yourself out.
The streaming service recommends you change your password if you think someone is watching when you don't want them to, but now they have a tool which lets you see what devices are using your Netflix and boot them off.
Netflix is hoping this sort of gizmo will bring them more subscribers, as if people were watching their stuff already they might finally bite the bullet and pay for Netflix once they were locked out of the stranger's account they were mooching off.
Hoping to entice more subscribers onto cheaper packages, Netflix has been launching subscriptions where you pay less but have to put up with ads, although this has meant certain shows aren't watchable on the platform if you have ads on.
Topics: Netflix, Technology, TV and Film
Joe Harker