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The Quiet Clause That May Save Linux From Age‑Verification Laws
Quoting: The Quiet Clause That May Save Linux From Age‑Verification Laws - FOSS Force —
One of the big stories concerning free software and open source lately has been legislation in Colorado and California to enforce age restrictions at the operating system level. These are regulations that require, out-of-the-box, operating systems to determine with a degree of certainty the age of the holder of a computer’s user account.
Colorado’s law, which won’t go into effect until 2028, already exempts open source operating systems, thanks in part to efforts by CEO Carl Richell and his team at System76, which manufactures servers, desktops, and laptops preinstalled with in-house developed Pop!_OS or Ubuntu Linux distributions.
It's FOSS:
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Linux is Getting a Free Pass on Age Verification in California and Colorado
Neither state got here automatically. The open source exemptions did not exist in either bill to start with, and it took sustained community pressure and direct legislative outreach to get them added.
This is something that can be applied to many other issues, of course. Though, when the representatives are more interested in serving certain interests (say due to pressure from certain lobbies) than their constituents, disruption tends to be the only way out.
The Register:
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California may let Linux bypass age check
The kids are alright. Open source operating systems like Linux and FreeBSD may soon be exempt from California’s app and OS age verification requirements.
Last October, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043) into law, which establishes age verification obligations for operating system providers, covered app stores, and application developers.
Those distributing operating systems must provide "an accessible interface at account setup" for the user to indicate birth date, age, or both.
More Updates:
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Linux backlash leads to California law change on age verification — with the original lawmaker forced to make a humbling step back
A new California amendment bill aims to make most mainstream open source Linux distros, like Ubuntu, exempt from the state's upcoming age-verification requirements.
Passed in late 2025, the Digital Age Assurance Act was designed to shift the burden of age verification from individual websites to the operating system level.
Under the law, OSs are required to request a user's age bracket during device setup, which would go on to be exposed to apps and stores that offer age-restricted services.
California Backs Down on Forcing Linux to Verify Users' Ages After Pushback | Extremetech
California plans to exclude Linux and most other open-source operating systems from its new age verification law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2027. The change follows massive pushback from the open-source software community.
In October 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1043, a new law for OS providers in California. This law requires an OS to collect users' ages or birth dates when they set up their accounts. OS providers then must share this information with app developers through a real-time API.
One more (late addition):
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Linux Is Exempt From Colorado and California's Age Verification Laws
California (AB 1856) and Colorado (SB 26-051) have enacted laws requiring operating systems to implement device-level age verification but have specifically exempted open-source software. These mandates require "Operating System Providers" to collect a user's age during account setup and share a non-identifiable "age signal" with third-party apps.
Following significant backlash from open source community, both states narrowed their definitions to exclude Linux and open source software distributed under licenses that allow users to copy, redistribute, and modify the code. While a pure Linux distribution is exempt, platforms like Valve's SteamOS may still fall under the mandate. This is because SteamOS ships with a proprietary storefront and client.
Or this:
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Colorado and California Exempt Open Source from Age Attestation
Open source values are just different. Our operating systems and apps don’t collect personal information, profile children, inject targeted ads, or create addictive design patterns. The kinds of behaviors these children’s safety laws regulate are antithetical to open source values. For software that does not engage in these behaviors, mandatory age attestation creates privacy costs without corresponding safety benefits.
We’re naturally resistant to this kind of activity. If an open source project attempted these behaviors, it would be relegated to the heap of random software rotting on the internet. Or forked without those properties. systemd, a common init+more system recently added a birthdate field to users accounts. That’s okay. We simply ignore the field. We don’t want to know the user's birthday because a username and birthday could identify an individual. Personal privacy is central to our philosophy.
A handful more:
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LinuxStans ☛ California Almost Killed Linux, Then Someone Actually Read the Code
Remember when California tried to force every operating system to become Big Brother? Turns out they might have accidentally given GNU/Linux a hall pass. AB-1856, the amendment that could save your freedom to compute without the state watching, just cleared committee and heads to a vote in June.
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GamingOnLinux ☛ Linux and open source getting age checking exemptions could be problematic | GamingOnLinux
You've seen the news about various US states (and even a US-wide bill!) for operating systems to implement age checking - but exemptions could cause headaches.
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GigaZine ☛ A bill to mandate age verification for Linux users is facing heavy criticism and is being amended.
A proposed amendment has been submitted to the California law requiring operating systems to verify users' ages, which would exempt Linux and open-source operating systems. The law had drawn widespread opposition from the Linux community, which would have required OS providers to input users' birth dates and ages. However, the amended bill now includes wording that excludes 'operating systems distributed under a copy, redistribute, and modify license.'
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Open Source For U ☛ Colorado And California Shield Linux From OS-Level Age Verification Rules
moving towards exempting open-source operating systems and software distributions from proposed operating-system-level age verification laws, offering a significant regulatory win for the Linux and broader open-source ecosystem.
Colorado’s bill, which has already reached its “Final Act” stage, explicitly excludes software distributed under licences that allow users to copy, redistribute, and modify software without platform-imposed technical or contractual restrictions. The law is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2028.
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Windows Central ☛ I knew Linux PCs would get a free pass from California's controversial age-verification law for operating systems
In March, I reported on California’s Digital Age Assurance Act, requiring operating system providers in the state to collect users’ age information during setup, including Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Linux distros like SteamOS, and more.
The bill was unanimously passed by both the Assembly and Senate and is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027. However, California lawmakers are introducing a new amendment that will exempt open-source operating systems from the state’s forthcoming Digital Age Assurance Act (via Tom's Hardware).
gHacks:
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California Wants To Exclude Linux and Other Open Source Systems From New Age Checks - gHacks Tech News
A proposed change to California's Digital Age Assurance Act aims to exempt open source operating systems from age verification rules set to take effect on January 1, 2027.
The amendment, published on May 18, 2026, introduces language that excludes any operating system or application distributed under license terms allowing copying, redistribution, and modification from the definition of "operating system provider."
If approved, Linux distributions, FreeBSD, and other open source operating systems would not be required to implement age verification at installation or first launch.
The amendment is identified as AB 1856, introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks in February as an update to the original law (AB 1043), which was signed into law in October 2025.
3 more:
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Open Source Initiative ☛ Open Source Organizations Weigh in on Age Attestation
The Open Source Initiative (OSI), Apereo Foundation, FreeBSD Foundation, and Open Source Technology Improvement Fund (OSTIF) issued the following statement on age attestation requirements for operating systems.
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California amendment would exempt Linux from age verification law
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California’s Age Verification Hits A Speed Bump: Linux
California’s age verification crusade just hit an unexpected speed bump: lawmakers discovered that open source exists. AB 1856, a proposed amendment to the state’s Digital Age Assurance Act, would exempt operating systems distributed under licenses allowing copying, redistribution, and modification. Translation: your Ubuntu install won’t interrogate you about your birthday, but Windows absolutely will.
The original law, AB 1043, requires operating systems to collect users’ ages at setup and signal age brackets to apps starting January 2027.
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EFF ☛ Age Verification is a Privacy Nightmare
We all want young people to be safe online, but we don’t need to trade everyone's digital rights to achieve it. These new restrictive mandates are used to justify government-led censorship and expanded surveillance. That's no accident.
More EFF:
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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: CA's AB 1856 Exempts Open Source But Expands Age-Gating
While the open source exemption, if passed, would improve the law, the remaining amendments proposed by AB 1856 would require all web browsers and websites to request and collect users’ ages. This is an expansion of last year's AB 1043's age-bracketing system that compounds its constitutional harms to users’ speech, privacy, and security. As AB 1856 moves on to the Senate, EFF will continue fighting for amendments that reduce those harms.
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Tech Times ☛ California Age Verification Bill Clears Assembly: Linux Spared, Websites Added to Age-Gating Regime
California's bid to amend its landmark OS-level age-verification law passed the state Assembly on May 28, 2026, in a nearly unanimous 68-1 vote, sending the bill to the Senate with two simultaneous outcomes that privacy advocates describe as a mixed verdict: open-source Linux distributions would gain a formal exemption from the law's most burdensome requirements, while all web browsers and websites would be pulled into an expanded age-data collection framework for the first time.
Assembly Bill 1856, introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks — the same lawmaker who wrote the original law — amends the Digital Age Assurance Act, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on October 13, 2025. That law requires every operating system provider in California to collect a user's age or birth date at device setup and transmit a bracketed signal to app developers — classifying users as under 13, 13–15, 16–17, or 18 and older — and is scheduled to take effect January 1, 2027.
Linux Magazine:
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California May Exempt Linux from Its Age-Verifi... » Linux Magazine
Under California's Digital Age Assurance Act (AB1043 scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2027), operating systems will be required to verify the ages of users during initial setup, an act that sent a wave of outrage through the Linux community.
Now, it seems, Assembly Bill 1856 (AB 1856) is making its way through the California legislature, which would exempt the likes of Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, Zorin OS, and other Linux distributions from having to comply. The new bill states: "This bill would delete that definition of ‘user’ and would specify that the requirement of an operating system provider to provide an accessible interface applies if the operating system provider’s operating system has an account setup feature with respect to the use of the operating system on a particular device."
The proposed amendment would exclude software that is distributed under licenses that allow users to copy, redistribute, and modify the software. In other words, operating systems that are released under an open source license, such as Linux.
EFF/LWN:
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LWN ☛ One step forward, two steps back on CA age bill (EFF Deeplinks Blog)
The EFF has a blog post looking at a new bill in California that would exempt open-source operating systems from the Digital Age Assurance Act passed last year, but has problems of its own: [...]