Is It Illegal to Share Your Netflix Password With Others?

Despite a decline in new subscribers at the start of 2022, Netflix still holds the record as the world's largest streaming service since it closed with over 200 million paid subscribers worldwide in 2021.

Its immense popularity does not make it without faults, though. Many subscribers consider the service a bit too expensive and prefer sharing their passwords to reduce costs. Of course, that's not what Netflix wants, but exactly how much trouble could you be in if you share your Netflix password?

Password sharing has always been morally questionable, but where does it fall legally? Well, in 2016, an interesting case answered that question.

A brief recap of the situation in question. An employee whose own credentials were revoked decided to use a former co-worker's login details to access “computer data owned by the former employer.”

That case made its way to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. After review, it issued an opinion that the employee violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), a federal law used to prevent computer-related fraud.

The court determined that the employee "acted "without authorization" in violation of the CFAA when he or his former employee co-conspirators used the login credentials of a current employee to gain access to computer data owned by the former employer and to circumvent the revocation of access."

The fact that the former co-worker gave the other access to use their still working login details was deemed irrelevant, and the court decided that sharing a password between employees broke federal law in this specific case.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals shared opinion did not state that all cases of password sharing should be treated the same. Instead, it urged courts to consider "facts and context" when facing similar password-sharing issues and to determine whether they violate the CFAA.

Despite streaming services not being explicitly named under that case ruling, password sharing was still deemed a federal crime. So, the logical conclusion is that sharing your Netflix password can mean that you're breaking federal law, and it's illegal, right?

Fortunately, for people who share passwords, it's not that straightforward. At the time of writing, no one has been prosecuted for sharing their Netflix password—or the password of other streaming services, for that matter. Of course, that doesn't mean it will always be this way, but Netflix isn't actively trying to send us to jail.

A quick browse through the Netflix Terms of Use reveals that the platform is completely against password sharing. Going through point five, Passwords and Account Access, shows as much.

When you agree to the terms of service, you agree that "The Account Owner should [...] not reveal the password or details of the Payment Method associated to the account to anyone." Subsequently, Netflix continues to state, "We can terminate your account or place your account on hold in order to protect you, Netflix or our partners from identity theft or other fraudulent activity."

So, sharing your Netflix password with anyone is against the company's Terms of Use, and if you're caught, it could cost you your account.

A curious aspect about password sharing is that in a Shareholder Letter from Netflix shared in April 2022, the company expressed that it's okay to share your password in the same household. The trouble lies when users share their passwords across multiple households.

Since then, Netflix has started to crack down on password sharing, and one of its focus points is to monetize password sharing between different households. The company's already testing new features, which will let you add an extra member or let users transfer their existing profile to a different account. At the time of writing, these new features are only available in Chile, Costa Rica, and Perú.

Despite the ongoing debate on whether Netflix should try to stop people from sharing their passwords or not, only time will tell if these features will roll out worldwide or not.

Unfortunately, since morality rarely tolerates blanket statements, there isn't a clear answer. What's moral for some is immoral to others.

If someone can't afford a Netflix subscription, and you share your password with them, is that so bad? But then, what if that password sharing gets your Netflix account terminated?

Each Netflix subscriber should have a good hard think on actions and consequences and decide what's an acceptable risk to them. If you share your password, just know you're not alone; many Netflix users who share their passwords, and it seems the number continues to grow.

As we mentioned before, no one has been prosecuted for sharing their Netflix password at the time of writing. So it's more than likely that, if you do it, you'll avoid facing legal issues and jail time. However, that being the case now doesn't mean it can't change in the future.

It's also unlikely that Netflix will bother suing you for breaching the Terms of Use. Instead, what it can do if it catches you sharing your password, is terminate your account. At the very least, Netflix can place your account on hold, and you won't have access to it for some time.

There's no doubt that there are risks with password-sharing. Are you willing to put your Netflix account in jeopardy? Are you okay with potentially violating federal law?

Who knows how the courts will view password-sharing on streaming services in the future? Not only that but there are also security risks when sharing your account. Ultimately, it's up to you to decide whether you're okay taking those risks or not.