AB 1856: Age verification signals: software applications and online services.

Existing law, the Digital Age Assurance Act, beginning January 1, 2027, requires, among other things related to age verification with respect to software applications, an operating system provider, as defined, to provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder, as defined, to indicate the birth date, age, or both, of the user of that device for the purpose of providing a signal regarding the users age bracket to applications available in a covered application store. Existing law defines the term user for these purposes to mean a child that is the primary user of a device.

This bill would, among other things, 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 providers operating system has an account setup feature with respect to the use of the operating system on a particular device and would require the signal to be provided to a covered application store, application developer, browser provider, or an internet website operator, as prescribed.

Existing law deems a developer that receives a signal pursuant to these provisions to have actual knowledge of the age range of the user to whom that signal pertains across all platforms of the application and points of access of the application even if the developer willfully disregards the signal.

This bill would recast those provisions to instead deem a developer or internet website operator that receives a signal to have actual knowledge of the age range of the user to whom that signal pertains when the user accesses the application from a specified device and would delete the provision that deems the developer to have actual knowledge across all platforms of the application and points of access of the application.