Lawmakers in California appear to be adding an exclusion a proposed age-verification rule that alarmed Linux users, privacy groups and open-source developers, after a new amendment carved out protections for most freely distributed operating systems. With the new amendment (Assembly Bill 1856) moving through the state legislature, the definition of an “operating system provider” would exclude open-source operating systems.
That wording would likely protect major Linux distributions such as Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, Arch Linux, and Linux Mint from the law’s compliance rules, which are due to take effect on 1 January 2027.
The original law, the Digital Age Assurance Act, passed in 2025 and aimed to move online age checks away from individual websites and apps. Instead, operating systems would ask users for their age or date of birth during device setup, then provide apps and app stores with an “age bracket signal”, such as under 13, 13–15, 16–17, or 18 and over.
Supporters say the measure would help protect children online. Critics argue it risked creating a broad identity-checking system built into everyday devices for tracking and surveillance.
The proposal caused particular concern in open-source communities. Unlike Apple’s iOS or Google’s Android, a single company does not control all Linux distributions. Volunteers often build and maintain them, distributed freely, and may not include user accounts, centralized servers, or tracking tools.
Developers argued that forcing such projects to collect age information would be impractical, invasive, and out of step with how open-source software works.
Privacy groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, also warned that operating-system-level age checks could become a tool for wider online tracking.
The proposed amendment does not scrap California’s age-assurance law. Commercial platforms with closed app stores or proprietary ecosystems may still fall under the rules. That could leave systems such as Valve’s SteamOS in a more uncertain position, because although it is based on Linux, it depends upon the proprietary Steam store and client.
Assembly Member Buffy Wicks introduced AB 1856 in February 2026. The exemption language appeared in later revisions, with the latest version dated 18 May 2026. As of 19 May, the bill had undergone its second reading and was now sent for a third reading.
If passed, the amendment would mark a significant retreat from the broadest reading of California’s age-verification law, while keeping pressure on major commercial platforms to build age-assurance systems into their software.
