February 27, 2026
Age-checks meet rage-checks
New California law requires age verification for all OS accounts
Windows shrugs, Linux fumes, and the comments go nuclear
TLDR: California’s 2027 law makes operating systems ask your age and share only an age bracket with apps. Windows shrugs while Linux forums threaten “not for California” downloads and cry privacy, stoking a bigger fight over government age checks.
California just put your computer on age duty: AB 1043 forces operating systems to ask your birth date or age and send a simple “age bracket” (under 13, 13–16, 16–18, 18+) to apps upon request starting Jan 1, 2027. No face scans, says the bill, just a signal—think parental controls on steroids. The move mirrors a global push: the UK’s Online Safety Act and platforms like Discord trying camera checks, drawing heat, as noted via The Lunduke Journal.
Cue chaos online. Windows users mostly yawn—Microsoft already asks your date of birth—while Linux communities go full popcorn: one hot take predicts every distro slaps a tiny “not for use in California” disclaimer and calls it a day. Another says bad actors will just dodge any “OS that rats them out,” so what’s the point? A calmer crowd insists it’s “no biggie,” basically a built‑in way to tell kid‑safe apps who’s who. Then the memes: a dev joked he’ll scold over‑21 Californians “for voting for Gavin,” and the nuclear take proposed a parody group—“Fuck the Children”—to fight what they see as surveillance dressed up as safety. The split is sharp: privacy purists vs. pragmatists, both sure the other is wildly naive. The real cliffhanger: can California actually make open‑source systems comply, or will the state get ghosted by “download at your own risk” warnings?
Key Points
- •Assembly Bill 1043 requires OS providers to collect age information during account setup starting January 1, 2027.
- •OS providers must deliver an age-bracket signal to developers via a consistent real-time API upon request.
- •The law defines four age categories: under 13; 13–15; 16–17; and 18+.
- •The bill does not mandate invasive verification methods like face scans but requires some form of age data collection.
- •The article situates the law within a broader trend of mandatory age verification, citing the UK’s Online Safety Act and platform practices like Discord’s.