California's Digital Age Assurance Act forces all operating systems to track user ages and share data with apps, creating compliance nightmares for privacy-focused Linux distributions.

The law's broad definition of an "operating system provider" pulls in not just Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, but Linux distributions and Valve's SteamOS.

A new California state law requires all operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, to have an age verification ...

Assembly Bill 1043 becomes a law in California in January 2027, and will require every operating system to have age verification in account setup.