Here's What Netflix CEO Reed Hastings Has to Say on Password Sharing Among Users

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings recently talked about Netflix's password sharing among users while the video streaming platform is trying new ways to limit account sharing.

Reed Hastings said that whatever the company releases should have to make sense to consumers, according to an IGN Nordic report.

Netflix executives were also asked if the time was right to change the dynamic when it comes to password sharing, which becomes a common practice across the platform.

The firm's Chief Operating Officer Greg Peters said that the recent introduction of an account verification system is a test, adding that they will keep working on accessibility to countries that Netflix serves.

Peters noted that it is not necessarily a new thing as they have been doing it for a while.

Netflix's Account Verification Feature

Users were greeted with a pop-up, asking them to verify the account once they select their profile on a shared Netflix account. The account holder would then be notified with a text or email, according to a Local 12 News report.

Users can also choose to verify later, which would prompt another pop-up at an undetermined later date. Viewers would be urged to set up a new account if they cannot confirm they are the authorized users. The said test feature is rolling out to a limited number of users watching the Netflix TV app.

A Netflix spokesperson said that the feature is getting a limited rollout at the time, noting that the test is done to ensure that people using Netflix accounts are authorized to do so, Indie Wire reported.

Reed Hastings said in 2016 that password sharing is something common as there was legitimate password sharing, such as sharing with family.

Meanwhile, CEOs of other video streaming platforms have been laxer when it comes to password sharing. Warner Media CEO John Stankey said before the launch of HBO Max that the platform would not block password sharing.

Stankey noted that the industry would have to come up with a method that is a bit more rigorous as user growth continues.

It was reported that around 33 percent of Netflix users share their passwords with people outside their family, according to a BGR report.

Netflix's Subscribers Growth

The video streaming service had reported additional four million worldwide subscribers from January to March, which is the smallest gain during the three-month period in four years.

The subscriber was about two million fewer subscribers than both management and analysts had forecasted Netflix would gain during the first quarter.

The downward trend continued when Netflix predicted an increase of just one million worldwide subscribers in the current April-June period. It is a decrease from 10 million subscribers from the same period last year.

Reed Hastings said that there is a slight dwindling in numbers right now. Netflix's revenue rose to 24 percent from the same time last year to $7.16 billion, according to an Associated Press report.

Spencer Neumann, Netflix's chief financial officer, said that it stemmed from the pandemic.

WATCH: Netflix Cracking Down on Password Sharing - From FOX59 News