Skip to content

Generated Source Mirror

This page is generated from the source Markdown file so it can be viewed inside the MkDocs site.

📝 Page Status: Draft — sourced but not yet reviewed

  • Status: draft
  • Sources: 2
  • Relationships: 3
  • Research debt items: 4

California Digital Age Assurance Act (Civ. Code §§ 1798.500–1798.505)

Summary

California’s Digital Age Assurance Act, added by AB 1043 (Stats. 2025, Ch. 675), creates Civil Code Title 1.81.9. It obligates operating system providers to obtain age information at account setup and to expose age-bracket “signals” to developers via API, and obligates developers to request those signals when apps are downloaded and launched. The title is effective January 1, 2026 and operative January 1, 2027.

Official Sources

Verified Facts

  • Title 1.81.9 (Civil Code §§ 1798.500–1798.505) was added by Stats. 2025, Ch. 675, Sec. 1 (AB 1043).1
  • AB 1043 was chaptered by the Secretary of State on October 13, 2025, as Chapter 675, Statutes of 2025.2
  • The title is effective January 1, 2026 and operative January 1, 2027 pursuant to § 1798.505.1
  • “Age bracket data” must indicate, at minimum, whether a user is under 13; 13–15; 16–17; or 18 or older.1
  • An operating system provider must provide an accessible interface at account setup for an account holder to indicate the user’s birth date, age, or both, and must provide requesting developers a real-time API signal identifying the user’s age bracket.1
  • A developer must request a signal when the application is downloaded and launched, and generally must treat the signal as the primary age-range indicator (subject to clear and convincing contrary internal information).1
  • For devices with account setup completed before January 1, 2027, OS providers must provide a legacy age interface before July 1, 2027; certain pre-2027 downloads require developers to request a signal before July 1, 2027.1
  • Enforcement is by California Attorney General civil action: up to $2,500 per affected child for each negligent violation and up to $7,500 per affected child for each intentional violation, plus injunctive relief.1
  • Good-faith OS providers and covered application stores are not liable for erroneous signals or for developer conduct after receiving a signal.1

Key Provisions

Section Subject
§ 1798.500 Definitions (account holder, age bracket data, signal, OS provider, developer, covered application store)
§ 1798.501 OS duties (age interface + API signal); developer duties (request signal; use as primary indicator)
§ 1798.502 Legacy devices/apps compliance by July 1, 2027
§ 1798.503 AG civil penalties and good-faith safe harbor for erroneous signals
§ 1798.504 Antitrust/nondiscrimination, interaction with AADC, exemptions, severability
§ 1798.505 Operative date January 1, 2027

Distinction from App Store Accountability Acts

Unlike Texas SB 2420 and similar “App Store Accountability Act” statutes, California’s law is framed as an operating-system age-bracket signaling regime rather than a full app-store age-verification and per-download parental-consent gate. Pair with TOPIC-APP-STORE-AGE-VERIFICATION and STAT-TX-APP-STORE-ACCOUNTABILITY.

Relationships

Sources

  1. SRC-CA-CIV-1798-500-DIGITAL-AGE-ASSURANCE: California Civil Code Title 1.81.9 — Digital Age Assurance Act (leginfo).
  2. SRC-CA-AB-1043-STATUS: California AB 1043 Bill Status — Chaptered October 13, 2025.

Research Debt

  • Add Attorney General guidance or implementing materials if issued before January 1, 2027.
  • Document any constitutional challenges to AB 1043 / Title 1.81.9 when filed.
  • Cross-link California Age-Appropriate Design Code (Civ. Code § 1798.99.28 et seq.) with primary sources.
  • Clarify covered-application-store duties relative to OS-provider duties with industry implementation notes once available.

Document metadata

  • Enactment date: 2025-10-13
  • Last verified: 2026-08-08

  1. SRC-CA-CIV-1798-500-DIGITAL-AGE-ASSURANCE — California Civil Code Title 1.81.9 (leginfo). Primary statute text. ↩↩↩↩↩↩↩↩

  2. SRC-CA-AB-1043-STATUS — California AB 1043 bill status (chaptered Oct. 13, 2025). Official legislative status. ↩