“The Netflix account is for people who live in the same house.” If you’re seeing that message on your TV, don’t panic. The warning has been appearing to some users for a few days and Netflix account owners had also received a warning email, but it is now when the shared account detection mechanism enters its new phase.

Today is the deadline to activate the main location on Netflix: what happens from now
Today is the deadline to activate the main location on Netflix: what happens from now

Goodbye to the shared accounts “from before” . If today you connect on TV (both in Smart TV apps and through HDMI dongles such as Fire TV Stick or Chromecast) you may see that message to configure the main Netflix location , and it is totally normal. Today is the deadline to establish the primary location of your Netflix account as the owner, and that information is used to later detect legal use of Netflix at that address.

How to set the primary location . If we click on Continue we can either configure the main location at that moment —which is validated via email— or configure it later. It is enough to follow the instructions indicated in the email — also available in the Netflix support center — to configure it at this time, but we can also wait to configure it with the “Configure later” option.

Netflix will try to set the primary location . It will do so if we have not done so, and for this it will use the data of the activity and devices from which we connect. That automatic establishment, eye, can be modified at any time as indicated in the image. To do this, just go to the “Get Help” section of the TV application.

Set up later . If we have chosen the option to set the main location later, Netflix may set the one it detects as the main one. If that happens and it is not correct, we can go to the Netflix menu and, at the bottom we will see on the right the access to “Get help”, which allows us to configure the main location correctly.

correcting . From that menu we can access the configuration of the main location if it was incorrect or we want to modify it at any time. As that information indicates, that primary location is that of the Netflix account that is associated with a home and home WiFi.

And what about shared accounts . If you shared an account with people who use it outside of that primary location, “devices in some locations that use your account may be blocked from accessing it.”

Options . The new policy forces users who previously shared our account without living with us to choose between two options : either they create their own account , or we add them as extra subscribers . In the first case, Netflix provides a tool to " transfer profiles " and that the recommendations and history of those users who previously shared an account with us can use that data in their new accounts. You can also cancel your account , of course.

When and how can I be blocked? It is not yet clear when these theoretical blocks will take place or in what way, but Netflix has already explained that this measure contemplates possible trips by the account owner.

And if I travel? To detect that it is that user who is traveling and we are not sharing the account with someone in a way that is not allowed, theoretically the account will have to be verified by means of an email or a PIN code that we must then enter in the application, at least according to one archived support page .

What does Netflix say ? Nothing for the moment. At Avdhootblogger we have contacted the company, and they have no new information to share at the moment. We will update this information if that changes.