California has passed a new bill that will keep Linux and many other open source operating systems outside the state upcoming age verification rules. The move comes months before the Digital Age Assurance Act is scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.
The amendment, known as Assembly Bill 1856, changes how the law defines an operating system provider. Open source software distributed under licences that allow users to copy, modify and share the software will be excluded from the rules. This includes software using popular licences such as GPL, MIT, BSD and Apache.
The change means popular Linux distributions such as Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Arch will not have to collect user age information under this law. The decision follows concerns from Linux developers and privacy groups about how a decentralised open source community could handle mandatory age checks.
The original law also had a wording problem that could technically treat every device owner as a child. The amendment fixes this definition and adds rules to prevent age verification signals from being requested when they are not legally required.
However, the exemption does not apply to major closed source operating systems. Windows, macOS, iOS and Android remain covered by the law, with age collection requirements beginning in 2027. The position of SteamOS is still unclear because it combines open source components with proprietary software. The move gives California open source community greater clarity while keeping age safety requirements for major commercial platforms.
