Netflix may demand 'facial recognition' to halt password sharing: Report

Netflix may take help from biometrics to make subscribers scan their fingerprint or face recognition to crack down on password sharing, predicted by an analyst.

According to Forbes, CCS Insight says that by 2023, “streaming services such as Netflix [will] turn to these processes to validate users”.

“There’s only so much you can do with passwords,” said Ben Wood, chief analyst at CCS Insight. “We may see one of the big streaming providers saying ‘we want some biometric proof that you’re there’.”

“I’m not saying you’re going to have a fingerprint sensor on your TV, but it could well be that if you want to watch something on a mobile phone, or even if you’re sitting at home, you will get pinged... ‘I want your fingerprint or I want a faceprint to prove that it’s you’.”

Wood said that Netflix is “coming under pressure” to handle the password-sharing issue and would “learn lessons from the banks” in the steps they take to verify customers are genuine.