The progressives promise, PROMISE, the camel will never be let into the tent. - it will only ever be age verification and nothing more. Swear! Pinky swear.
According to Grok:
The relevant law is **Assembly Bill 1043** (the Digital Age Assurance Act), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2025. It takes effect on January 1, 2027.
Here’s what the law actually requires, based on its text and reliable reports:
- **Operating system providers** (e.g., those for Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux distributions if distributed/sold in California, etc.) must provide an **accessible interface during account setup** that prompts the account holder to indicate the **birth date, age, or both** of the device’s primary user.
- This is **self-reported** information (no mandatory ID checks, scans, or strong verification required—the OS doesn’t have to confirm accuracy).
- The OS then provides a **digital “signal”** (age bracket: under 13, 13–under 16, 16–under 18, or 18+) via an API to **app developers** (upon request) when apps are downloaded/launched from covered app stores.
- The purpose is to help apps comply with age-appropriate rules, reduce risks to minors online, and shift age signals to the device level (instead of every app/site doing its own checks).
- It applies to general-purpose computing devices and focuses on apps in covered stores.
- It does **not** require anything “in their kernel.” This is handled at the user/account setup level (UI/prompt), not deep in the kernel.
- It is **not** a question “on the age of the person in front of the keyboard” in an ongoing or pervasive way—it’s a one-time prompt during account/device setup (with some provisions for existing accounts by mid-2027).
- Phones (iOS/Android) will likely need to comply if sold/used in California, as major providers fall under the definition.
- There is **no connection to ESG** (Environmental, Social, and Governance). The law is about children’s online safety and privacy (age signals for app compliance), not ESG frameworks, corporate sustainability, or anything related to environmental/social governance metrics.
Recent discussions (including in tech communities like Hacker News, Reddit, and outlets like PC Gamer/Lunduke Journal) about the bill’s broad scope—including Linux and open-source OSes—confirm it’s self-reported age at setup for app signals, not kernel-level mandates or ESG enforcement.
In short: It’s a law about device-level age prompts for better minor protections in apps, but some claims exaggerate it into something far more invasive and misattribute its purpose.
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So when doing the initial installation and set-up, the user could enter anything, say, April 15, 1913 as a birth date. Matter closed.
The progressives promise, PROMISE, the camel will never be let into the tent. - it will only ever be age verification and nothing more. Swear! Pinky swear.