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AB-1043 • 2026

Age verification signals: software applications and online services.

Age verification signals: software applications and online services.

Children Privacy
Enacted

This bill passed the Legislature and reached final enactment based on the latest official action.

Sponsor
Wicks
Last action
2025-10-13
Official status
Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 675, Statutes of 2025.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on penalties or enforcement mechanisms.

Age Verification for Online Services

AB-1043 requires operating system providers and app stores to verify users' ages during account setup or when downloading apps, starting in January 2027.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires operating system providers to ask users about their age during account setup.
  • Provides developers with digital signals about a user's age bracket through an API.
  • Prohibits using data from third parties in ways that harm competition.

Who It Names or Affects

  • Operating system providers like Apple or Google.
  • App developers who create software applications.
  • Users setting up accounts on devices or downloading apps from app stores.

Terms To Know

Age bracket
A group of ages, such as 'under 13' or '18 and older'.
Dark patterns
Designs that trick people into giving away personal information they might not want to share.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify the exact penalties for breaking these rules.
  • It is unclear how strictly age verification will be enforced or what happens if someone lies about their age.

Bill History

  1. 2025-10-13 California Legislative Information

    Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 675, Statutes of 2025.

  2. 2025-10-13 California Legislative Information

    Approved by the Governor.

  3. 2025-09-24 California Legislative Information

    Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 3 p.m.

  4. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 3480.).

  5. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Page 3477.)

  6. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    Joint Rules 61(a)(14) and 51(a)(4) suspended. (Ayes 59. Noes 20. Page 3413.)

  7. 2025-09-13 California Legislative Information

    In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  8. 2025-09-12 California Legislative Information

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 2996.).

  9. 2025-09-08 California Legislative Information

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  10. 2025-09-05 California Legislative Information

    Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

  11. 2025-08-29 California Legislative Information

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  12. 2025-08-29 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (August 29).

  13. 2025-08-18 California Legislative Information

    In committee: Referred to suspense file.

  14. 2025-07-23 California Legislative Information

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  15. 2025-07-23 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (July 15).

  16. 2025-06-11 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Com. on JUD.

  17. 2025-06-03 California Legislative Information

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

  18. 2025-06-02 California Legislative Information

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 76. Noes 0. Page 1914.)

  19. 2025-05-27 California Legislative Information

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

  20. 2025-05-23 California Legislative Information

    Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

  21. 2025-05-23 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (May 23).

  22. 2025-05-23 California Legislative Information

    Assembly Rule 63 suspended. (Ayes 51. Noes 16. Page 1644.)

  23. 2025-05-07 California Legislative Information

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file.

  24. 2025-04-30 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 29). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

  25. 2025-04-30 California Legislative Information

    Coauthors revised.

  26. 2025-04-28 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  27. 2025-04-24 California Legislative Information

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended.

  28. 2025-04-24 California Legislative Information

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 13. Noes 0.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

  29. 2025-04-03 California Legislative Information

    Coauthors revised.

  30. 2025-04-01 California Legislative Information

    Re-referred to Com. on P. & C.P.

  31. 2025-03-28 California Legislative Information

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on P. & C.P. Read second time and amended.

  32. 2025-03-28 California Legislative Information

    Referred to Coms. on P. & C.P. and JUD.

  33. 2025-02-21 California Legislative Information

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 23.

  34. 2025-02-20 California Legislative Information

    Read first time. To print.

Official Summary Text

AB 1043, Wicks.
Age verification signals: software applications and online services.
Existing law generally provides protections for minors on the internet, including the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act that, among other things, requires a business that provides an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children to do certain things, including estimate the age of child users with a reasonable level of certainty appropriate to the risks that arise from the data management practices of the business or apply the privacy and data protections afforded to children to all consumers and prohibits an online service, product, or feature from, among other things, using dark patterns to lead or encourage children to provide personal information beyond what is reasonably expected to provide that online service, product, or feature or to forego privacy protections.
This
bill, beginning January 1, 2027, would require, 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 user’s age bracket to applications available in a covered application store and to provide a developer, as defined, who has requested a signal with respect to a particular user with a digital signal via a
reasonably consistent real-time application programming interface regarding whether a user is in any of several age brackets, as prescribed. The bill would require a developer to request a signal with respect to a particular user from an operating system provider or a covered application store when the
application is downloaded and launched.
This bill would prohibit an operating system provider or a covered application store from using data collected from a third party in an anticompetitive manner, as specified.
This bill would punish noncompliance with a civil penalty to be enforced by the Attorney General, as prescribed.
This bill would declare its provisions to be severable.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
Download Bill PDF