Netflix just made a small but significant change to the way account logins are managed. Now you can log someone out remotely with one click.
Called “Access and Device Management”, the new account access control launches today (November 15) and as described in a Netflix blog post (opens in a new tab), works according to standard account settings. In it, you can see all the devices that you are currently using or have recently streamed through your account, and you can log them out with one click.
Netflix says it’s about people who, say, are traveling, log into their account at a hotel or even at a friend’s house, and forget to log out.
Yes. Sure.
It’s also about being in control of sharing your account credentials. Former lovers, friends and distant relatives with whom you no longer speak; their access to your account will probably end soon.
The change also comes as Netflix actively tries to curb what it sees as rampant password sharing, and is testing a $2.99 surcharge for adding extra account members outside of your household.
This last “feature” can be seen as a preparation for the full implementation of this surcharge. Knowing you can quickly remove squatters from your Netflix account before the company starts charging you is a good thing.
It’s been the rollercoaster of the year for Netflix, which began with declining subscribers and many show cancellations as it sought to cut costs. The confusion prompted Netflix to do something we thought it would never do: launch an ad-supported layer.
The $6.99/month (£4.99/month in the UK) tier gets most of Netflix’s current content library, plus 4 to 5 minutes of ads an hour. Not everyone is thrilled with it.
As for this new “Access and Device Management”, we quickly located it in our Netflix account management under “Security and Privacy” and found 21 devices logged into our account. Most of them concerned the devices used by the author.
Each record includes the name of the device whose account is being used, date and time of last viewing, and location.
The last bit is probably the most useful. If you see a location you don’t recognize, you can see if it’s, for example, where you’ve been recently, or if someone is illegally sharing your account from hundreds of miles away.
If you don’t want this device to use your account anymore, just click “Log out”. Whoever was watching will get a boot and will not be able to login again without the proper credentials.
It’s a whole new shrinking world of Netflix account sharing.