If you’re guilty of sharing your Netflix password with friends and family, watch out. A new AI has been designed to crack down on account sharing. A British firm called Synamedia is using machine learning to spot shared passwords on streaming services like Netflix and HBO and weasel out offending users. The AI-powered system works by analyzing where users are logged in and quickly flagging shared accounts. Each service can choose to deal with rule-breakers as they please, either asking them to upgrade to a premium service, or shutting down their account. If someone has illegally sold their password online to multiple people, police could get involved. “Casual credentials sharing is becoming too expensive to ignore,” said Jean Marc Racine, chief product officer of Synamedia. “Our new solution gives operators the ability to take action. Many casual users will be happy to pay an additional fee for a premium, shared service.” Roughly a quarter of millennials share their username and password for video streaming services with friends.
