- California’s Digital Age Guarantee Act goes into effect January 1, 2027
- Legislation means that any operating system will need to collect age data at setup time.
- This will be a self-reported age statement without verification, but could prove problematic in some respects, especially for some Linux distributions.
California has new legislation, which means that any provider of an operating system must determine the age of the user configuring the operating system.
As Tom’s Hardware reports, this is the California Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043) and it will go into effect on January 1, 2027.
Starting next year, any operating system will need to not only collect aging data during configuration, but also transmit that data to the developers of any application running on the operating system via a real-time API.
This is to make it easier for software developers to check age requirements when their applications are downloaded or run. According to the legislation, users of the operating system will be classified into four age groups: under 13 years of age, 13 to 15 years of age, 16 to 17 years of age and 18 years of age or older.
The idea is that developers are responsible for applying verification based on the age provided. If the content of the application is not age appropriate, the developer has the responsibility to ensure that the person cannot use the software, or the developer is liable and will be penalized up to $2,500 per affected child (for negligent violations; intentional violations can reach a fine of $7,500 in each case).
However, it is a simple self-reported age verification; there is no photo ID verification or similar process (as is the case in other US states with this type of regulation).
As Tom’s Hardware notes, there is a broad definition of an operating system vendor, which is any organization that “develops, licenses, or controls the operating system software on a computer, mobile device, or any other general-purpose computing device.”
Any operating system platform, whether mobile or desktop, is subject to AB 1043, whether behemoths like Android and iOS, Windows 11, or smaller desktops like macOS and Linux. The latter is a wide net, of course, and includes portable devices running SteamOS.
Analysis: complications around trust
Of course, a trust-based age verification system is problematic because a child can simply lie about their age to get around it, and no one will notice.
That obvious flaw aside, however, there are many people who are relieved to see that this will not be based on demanding a photo ID of some kind as proof of who you are. As we’ve seen lately with the Discord controversy, there are trust (and privacy) issues around providing sensitive data, like IDs, to third parties (especially if those companies end up suffering a data breach).
Another issue that is causing controversy here, however, is that some believe this is an initial implementation designed to open the door to passing stricter legislation (that does use identity verification) at a later date.
You can see why there is quite a bit of skepticism, one way or another, about AB 1043, and there is also another problem for some operating system developers. If you look at the more specialized Linux distributions, they are run by small teams of enthusiasts who simply do not have the resources to address the implementation of the necessary systems and real-time API; It’s just not going to happen. In those cases, as Tom’s Hardware points out, their approach will likely be to label the operating system as not intended for use in California.
There is also more nuance around what an “account” is with an operating system. What about operating system installations with multiple user accounts, where multiple family members share a PC? How exactly will that work under the new regulations? There are already people demanding clarity and amendments on that particular issue.
It’s a pretty confusing law, then, in more than a few respects, but there’s no shortage of people who welcome it as a better outcome for California than it could have been (i.e., full ID checks).
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