California law to require operating systems to check your age
California law to require operating systems to check your age
Publish Date: 2026-03-02 06:51:00
Source Domain: www.gamingonlinux.com
The time of age assurance is upon us, and not just for social media – for operating systems too and that includes Linux as well of course.
News currently doing the rounds is California law AB-1043 “Age verification signals: software applications and online services” that comes into effect January 1, 2027 that will require operating systems and app stores to get your age and be able to somehow signal that age to applications when they request it.
From the bill:
This bill, beginning January 1, 2027, would require, among other things related to age verification with respect to software applications, an operating system provider, as defined, to provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder, as defined, to indicate the birth date, age, or both, of the user of that device for the purpose of providing a signal regarding the user’s age bracket to applications available in a covered application store and to provide a developer, as defined, who has requested a signal with respect to a particular user with a digital signal via a reasonably consistent real-time application programming interface regarding whether a user is in any of several age brackets, as prescribed. The bill would require a developer to request a signal with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the application is downloaded and launched.
This bill would prohibit an operating system provider or a covered application store from using data collected from a third party in an anticompetitive manner, as specified.
This bill would punish noncompliance with a civil penalty to be enforced by the Attorney General, as prescribed.
This bill would declare its provisions to be severable.
Reading through the bill details, it doesn’t seem to demand any ID scanning or anything like that. The text makes it pretty clear they want “nonpersonally identifiable data” taken from your birth date to have you placed into…
