Netflix is cracking down on password sharing, but you can get around it

Netflix’s password sharing era is over. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get around the new rules.

The popular streamer announced earlier this month that a crackdown on account sharing would come to the U.S. sooner rather than later. Netflix added the ability to pay for extra account users in places like Canada, and while one can assume that will come to the states eventually, the situation is a little more murky right now.

But, as things stand, there appears to be an easy way around the new rules. Here’s how it works.

How to circumvent Netflix’s account sharing restrictions

Netflix’s new official policy is as vague as they come: “A Netflix account is meant to be shared in one household (people who live in the same location with the account owner). People who are not in your household will need to sign up for their own account to watch Netflix.”

How that works in a practical sense is that Netflix uses things like your home internet’s IP address to determine if you’re really at home, or if the account is being used elsewhere. While Netflix may introduce more stringent measures down the line, Lifehacker has identified one easy way around these new rules.

When you attempt to use Netflix in the U.S. outside of your home base, you’ll be prompted to enter a verification code that will be sent to the account’s primary owner. If you are that person and you’re simply trying to watch Netflix in a hotel room or something, you should have no problem complying. However, if you’re not the account holder, you may need to get a little creative.

I’ll just say it’s very easy to send strings of numbers to your friends using a smartphone.

You may have to do this repeatedly, which can get annoying, but it should enable your Netflix sharing habits to continue for the time being. If that changes, we’ll let you know.