A new California law requires age checks in Windows, macOS, and every other operating system — even Linux. Good luck with that.

Over the past few years, age verification has increasingly become prevalent across industries and platforms. Just last month, Discord announced plans to roll out age verification measures globally to, as it claims, protect users from harmful or inappropriate content.

And now, the move is trickling down to operating systems. Well, at least in California. In October 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed California’s Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), requiring operating system providers in the state to collect users’ age information during setup (via PCGamer).

The bill was passed by the Assembly and Senate unanimously, and is expected to take effect on January 1, 2027, affecting Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux distros like SteamOS, and more.

According to AB 1043, an OS developer will be required to:

"1) Provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder 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.

(2) Provide a developer who has requested a signal with respect to a particular user with a digital signal via a reasonably consistent real-time application programming interface that identifies, at a minimum, which of the following categories pertains to the user.

The categories are broken into four sections: users under 13 years of age, over 13 years of age under 16, at least 16 years of age and under 18, and "at least 18 years of age."

While the law doesn't enforce outrageous forms of age verification like a facial scan, OS developers will be required to collect age verification during the account setup process. The information can then be shared with app developers upon request.

App developers will now have access to their users' ages, consequently shifting legal liability for age-appropriate content decisions to them. For context, app developers could face steep penalties: up to $2,500 per affected child for negligent violations and $7,500 for intentional ones.

Despite signing the bill into law, Governor Gavin Newsom has urged the legislature to amend it, citing concerns from streaming services and game developers over “complexities such as multi-user accounts shared within families and user profiles spread across multiple devices.”

Age verification probably won't work for Linux

While this might not be a major change for Windows since the operating system already requires users to provide their date of birth during the Microsoft Account setup process, it seems like an uphill task for Linux distros.

This is because they don’t have centralized accounts, and users can download ISOs from global mirrors and freely modify the source code.

"This is basically impossible for California to enforce," CatoDomine indicated on Reddit. "Even if Linux Mint decides to add some kind of age verification, to comply with CA law, there's no reason anyone would choose that version."

The user further indicated that even if the find a way to get age verification to work on Linux, "It's more likely they will put a disclaimer on their website: "not for use in California."

Do you support California’s new law requiring age verification in all operating systems? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.