Do you share your Netflix password? The new technology that can 'sniff out' unauthorised sharing
Up to a quarter of young people share passwords for video streaming services such as Netflix, but that could soon be a thing of the past.
New software from Synamedia can ‘sniff out’ account sharing automatically, and was shown off at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, US.
The software allows an operator to specify how many users can use an account, and looks for likely fraud.
The system can work out if the service is being used in a ‘wrong’ location and knows when people are using it in their homes or holiday homes, for example.
“A typical pattern would be you have a subscriber that is simultaneously watching content on the East Coast and West Coast of the US,” Synamedia CTO Jean-Marc Racine said.
“That’s unlikely to be the same person.”
The company says that in ‘extreme’ cases, where passwords have been sold online, accounts will simply be deleted.
But in many cases, users will be urged to upgrade a more expensive multi-user subscription.
“The approach is that people tend to be not too punitive about it. They up-sell services instead,” Mr Racine said.
