California Mandates OS Age Verification Under Digital Age Assurance Act

Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Digital Age Assurance Act (Assembly Bill 1043) into law in October 2025, requiring all operating system providers in California to implement age verification mechanisms. Effective January 1, 2027, the law mandates that providers for PCs, mobile devices, and game consoles — including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and Linux-based platforms like SteamOS — collect a user's date of birth or age during account setup.

Operating systems must categorize users into four brackets: under 13, 13 to 15, 16 to 17, and 18 or older. This data will be shared with third-party app developers through a real-time API to ensure content distribution is age-appropriate. App developers face financial penalties for non-compliance, ranging from $2,500 per child for negligent violations to $7,500 for intentional ones.

While the law allows for self-reporting and avoids biometric scans or government IDs, it has faced criticism from the Linux community. Developers argue the mandate is virtually impossible to enforce given the decentralized nature of open-source distributions, leading some to consider designating their software as not intended for use in California. Governor Newsom has since urged the legislature to propose amendments to address complexities regarding shared family devices and multi-user profiles. Following California's lead, Colorado introduced Senate Bill 26-051 to propose similar registration requirements.