California Orders OS Age Checks by 2027, Pushing 4-Tier Signals to Apps
Updated
Updated · PCMag UK · May 26
California Orders OS Age Checks by 2027, Pushing 4-Tier Signals to Apps
11 articles · Updated · PCMag UK · May 26
Jan. 1, 2027 is the start date for California’s Digital Age Assurance Act, which will require operating systems to ask users for their age during setup and pass one of four age brackets to apps.
Those brackets—under 13, 13-16, 16-18, or over 18—give app developers legal notice of a user’s age range, potentially forcing different treatment in dating, gaming and social media services.
California’s law accepts self-declared age rather than requiring ID, but privacy advocates say liability risks could still push Apple, Google and Microsoft toward stricter checks such as credit cards, facial scans or government IDs.
Google and Apple already offer age-range APIs, Microsoft says Windows will add one, and Linux projects warn the rules could burden open-source systems that avoid collecting personal data.
California is the first state to mandate OS-level age collection, but similar bills in Colorado, Illinois and New York—and a federal Parents Decide Act introduced in April—could spread the model nationwide.
As OS-level age checks become mandatory, will protecting children online inevitably destroy digital privacy for everyone?
Can open-source software survive laws that demand costly, centralized age verification systems?
California’s Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043): Open-Source Exemptions, Industry Impact, and the Future of Device-Level Age Verification
Overview
California's Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), signed into law in October 2025, requires operating system providers to collect users' ages during account setup and share this information with app developers using a real-time API. The law defines age brackets like 'under 13' and '18+', aiming to protect minors online. However, these requirements quickly raised concerns about how decentralized, open-source software could comply, since such projects often lack centralized control. This led to the introduction of AB 1856, an amendment designed to clarify and potentially exempt open-source projects from these mandates, reflecting ongoing dialogue between lawmakers and the tech community.