As part of its continued pressure to fight password sharing, Netflix has introduced the option to transfer user profiles to new accounts.
A new feature, appropriately titled Profile Transfer, allows you to move your watch history, watchlist, and personalized recommendations to a different Netflix account if you’re at home.
“People move. Families grow. Relationships end. But over the course of these changes in life, your Netflix experience should remain the same, ”Netflix said in statement (opens in a new tab) announcing the function.
The streaming service has been testing profile transfer in South America, but now (as of October 17) this feature has started rolling out to subscribers in the US and UK.
As soon as this option becomes available in your account, you will receive an email notification. You’ll then need to start Netflix, hover over your profile icon in the drop-down menu, and follow the on-screen instructions.
At first glance, this is a helpful move for anyone who is regularly forced to look away from their ex-partner’s profile when logging into Netflix. But, as we mentioned above, profile transfer is actually just another way Netflix plans to crack down on account sharing people.
The company’s management estimates that there are over 100 million non-paying Netflix users worldwide, over 30 million of them in the United States and Canada alone. By giving these free “customers” the opportunity to migrate their user profiles to new accounts, Netflix will at least encourage some these people to set up their own accounts right away.
Not the only change
The profile move is the latest in a steady stream of recent Netflix updates that have been put in place to increase the streamer’s revenue pool. In July, Netflix began testing the add-home surcharge, which allows bill-paying customers to add entire households – rather than individual users – to their existing monthly subscriptions for a small fee.
A similar member surcharge was also tried earlier this year, and Netflix also occasionally experimented with verification emails to confirm users’ identities.
All of the above are the precursors to the streamer’s boldest revenue-generating traffic to date: the introduction of an ad-supported subscription level. Netflix has confirmed that this cheaper Netflix plan – expected to cost $ 6.99 / £ 4.99 / $ 6.99 a month – will be launched in the US, UK and Australia on November 3, offering subscribers a cheaper way to watch Netflix at the cost of seeing four to five minutes of advertising per hour.