SB26-051 • 2026

Age Attestation on Computing Devices

Children Education Privacy Technology

Enacted

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

Sponsor: Sen. M. Ball, Sen. L. Liston, Rep. A. Paschal, Rep. N. Ricks, Sen. N. Hinrichsen, Rep. M. Lindsay, Rep. T. Story
Last action: 2026-06-03
Official status: Governor Signed
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Age Attestation on Computing Devices

The act requires an operating system provider that operates a publicly available internet website, software application, online service, or platform that distributes and facilitates, on a commercial basis, the download of applications from third-party developers to users of devices (covered application store) or makes a covered application store available preinstalled on an operating system to: Provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder to indicate the birth date, age, or age bracket of the user of that device in order to provide a signal regarding the user's age (age signal) to applications available in the covered application store; Provide application developers with a reasonably consistent, real-time application programming interface to request and receive an age signal; and Send only the minimum amount of information necessary to comply with the act.

What This Bill Does

The act requires an operating system provider that operates a publicly available internet website, software application, online service, or platform that distributes and facilitates, on a commercial basis, the download of applications from third-party developers to users of devices (covered application store) or makes a covered application store available preinstalled on an operating system to: Provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder to indicate the birth date, age, or age bracket of the user of that device in order to provide a signal regarding the user's age (age signal) to applications available in the covered application store; Provide application developers with a reasonably consistent, real-time application programming interface to request and receive an age signal; and Send only the minimum amount of information necessary to comply with the act.
An operating system provider or covered application store shall not share an age signal with a third party for a purpose not required by the act.
The act requires a consumer software application that is accessed through a covered application store and that may be run or directed by a user on a device (covered application) to request an age signal with respect to a particular user when the covered application is initially launched or when a user first creates an account.
A covered application that receives an age signal is deemed to have knowledge of the age range of the user to whom that age signal pertains across all platforms of the application and points of access of the application.

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

L.004

HOU Business Affairs & Labor

Passed [*]

Plain English: SB051_L.004 HOUSE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business Affairs & Labor.

SB051_L.004 HOUSE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business Affairs & Labor.
SB26-051 be amended as follows: 1 Amend reengrossed bill, strike everything below the enacting clause and 2 substitute: 3 "SECTION 1.
Legislative declaration.
(1) The general 4 assembly finds and declares that: 5 (a) The state of Colorado has established a comprehensive 6 framework for consumer data privacy through the enactment of the 7 "Colorado Privacy Act", part 13 of article 1 of title 6, Colorado Revised 8 Statutes, which recognizes that the personal data of minors requires 9 heightened protections; 10 (b) Under the "Colorado Privacy Act", controllers that process the 11 personal data of minors are subject to additional obligations, including 12 heightened duties related to data processing, targeted advertising, and 13 profiling; 14 (c) In practice, many applications and online services lack reliable 15 information about whether a user is a minor, which limits their ability to 16 comply with these legal obligations and to implement appropriate 17 safeguards; 18 (d) As a result, minors may be exposed to harmful design features 19 or the collection and use of personal data in ways that are inconsistent 20 with the protections contemplated by Colorado law; and 21 (e) A mechanism that allows a computing device to provide a 22 minimal age-category signal to applications can enable compliance with 23 these obligations while minimizing the collection and retention of 24 personal data.

L.005

HOU Business Affairs & Labor

Passed [*]

Plain English: SB051_L.005 HOUSE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business Affairs & Labor.

SB051_L.005 HOUSE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business Affairs & Labor.
SB26-051 be amended as follows: 1 Amend proposed committee amendment (SB051_L.004), page 4, lines 12 2 and 13, strike "(3)(d)(II) AND (3)(d)(III)" and substitute "(3)(b)(II) AND 3 (3)(b)(III)".
** *** ** *** ** LLS: Richard Sweetman x4333

L.006

HOU Business Affairs & Labor

Passed [*]

Plain English: SB051_L.006 HOUSE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business Affairs & Labor.

SB051_L.006 HOUSE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business Affairs & Labor.
SB26-051 be amended as follows: 1 Amend proposed committee amendment (SB051_L.004), page 3, after 2 line 3 insert: 3 "(9) "FAMILY ACCOUNT APPLICATION" MEANS A COVERED 4 APPLICATION THAT: 5 (a) OFFERS SUBACCOUNTS OR PROFILES WITHIN THE APPLICATION; 6 (b) REQUIRES A PAID SUBSCRIPTION OR ACCOUNT CREATION WITH 7 PAYMENT METHOD VERIFICATION AS THE APPLICATION'S PRIMARY 8 BUSINESS MODEL; 9 (c) DOES NOT PERMIT ACCOUNT CREATION BY MINORS; AND 10 (d) VERIFIES THAT THE PRIMARY ACCOUNT HOLDER FOR THE 11 APPLICATION IS OVER THE AGE OF EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD USING 12 COMMERCIALLY REASONABLE AGE ESTIMATION METHODS.".
13 Renumber succeeding subsections accordingly.
14 Page 4, after line 28 insert: 15 "(e) NOTWITHSTANDING SUBSECTIONS (3)(a)(I) AND (3)(b)(IV) OF 16 THIS SECTION, A DEVELOPER OF A FAMILY ACCOUNT APPLICATION MAY: 17 (I) USE THE AGE OF THE PRIMARY ACCOUNT HOLDER OF A FAMILY 18 ACCOUNT APPLICATION AS THE AGE OF A USER FOR PURPOSES OF APPLYING 19 AGE-RELATED SAFETY DEFAULTS AND ACCESS TO FEATURES WITHIN THE 20 FAMILY ACCOUNT APPLICATION; AND 21 (II) ALLOW THE PRIMARY ACCOUNT HOLDER OF A FAMILY 22 ACCOUNT APPLICATION TO ATTEST TO THE AGE OF THE USERS OF 23 SUBACCOUNTS OF THE FAMILY ACCOUNT APPLICATION.".

L.001

SEN Business, Labor, & Technology

Passed [*]

Plain English: SB051_L.001 SENATE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business, Labor, & Technology.

SB051_L.001 SENATE COMMITTEE OF REFERENCE AMENDMENT Committee on Business, Labor, & Technology.
SB26-051 be amended as follows: 1 Amend printed bill, page 8, line 15, strike "OR".
2 Page 8, line 16, strike "PRODUCT." and substitute "PRODUCT; OR".
3 Page 8, after line 16 insert: 4 "(d) DATA MAINTAINED BY A STATE INSTITUTION OF HIGHER 5 EDUCATION, AS DEFINED IN SECTION 23-18-102 (10), THE STATE, THE 6 JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT OF THE STATE, OR A COUNTY, CITY AND COUNTY, 7 OR MUNICIPALITY IF THE DATA IS COLLECTED, MAINTAINED, DISCLOSED, 8 COMMUNICATED, AND USED AS AUTHORIZED BY STATE AND FEDERAL LAW 9 FOR NONCOMMERCIAL PURPOSES.".

L.008

Second Reading

Passed [**]

Plain English: SB051_L.008 Amendment No.

SB051_L.008 Amendment No.
___________ SB26-051 HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY REPRESENTATIVE Paschal 1 Amend the Business Affairs and Labor Committee Report, dated April 2 23, 2026, page 4, strike lines 23 and 24 and substitute "WHEN THE 3 APPLICATION IS INITIALLY LAUNCHED OR WHEN A USER FIRST CREATES AN 4 ACCOUNT ON THE COVERED APPLICATION; AND 5 (II) REQUEST A USER'S AGE BRACKET DATA, AS NEEDED, TO 6 UPDATE THE AGE INFORMATION HELD BY THE APPLICATION.".
7 Page 5, line 12, strike "(3)(a)(I) AND (3)(b)(IV)" and substitute "(3)(a), 8 (3)(b)(I), AND (3)(b)(IV)".
9 Page 5, line 28, strike "A" and substitute "THE OPERATING SYSTEM 10 PROVIDER'S".

L.009

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: SB051_L.009 Amendment No.

SB051_L.009 Amendment No.
___________ SB26-051 HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY REPRESENTATIVE Richardson 1 Amend the Business Affairs and Labor Committee Report, dated April 2 23, 2026, page 3, line 40, after "(1)" insert "(a)".
3 Page 4, strike lines 1 through 8 and substitute "THAT: 4 (I) REQUIRES AN ACCOUNT HOLDER TO INDICATE THE BIRTH DATE, 5 AGE, OR AGE BRACKET OF THE USER OF THAT DEVICE FOR THE PURPOSE OF 6 PROVIDING AN AGE SIGNAL TO COVERED APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE IN THE 7 OPERATING SYSTEM PROVIDER'S COVERED APPLICATION STORE; AND 8 (II) GENERATES A WARNING THAT STATES "CHOOSING TO PROVIDE 9 AN AGE ATTESTATION DOES NOT FULLY PROTECT YOUR CHILD FROM BEING 10 EXPOSED TO RISKS RELATED TO INTERNET ACCESS." 11 (b) OPERATING SYSTEM PROVIDERS MAY MINIMIZE THE USE OF 12 PERSONAL DATA BY ALLOWING AN ACCOUNT HOLDER TO SELECT AN AGE 13 BRACKET FOR A USER WHO IS EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD OR OLDER WITHOUT 14 PROVIDING A BIRTH DATE OR AGE.".
** *** ** *** ** LLS: Richard Sweetman x4333

L.010

Second Reading

Lost [**]

Plain English: SB051_L.010 Amendment No.

SB051_L.010 Amendment No.
___________ SB26-051 HOUSE FLOOR AMENDMENT Second Reading BY REPRESENTATIVE Richardson 1 Amend the Business Affairs and Labor Committee Report, dated April 2 23, 2026, page 2, strike lines 36 through 40 and substitute: 3 "(b) "COVERED APPLICATION" DOES NOT INCLUDE A SOFTWARE 4 APPLICATION THAT DOES NOT PROCESS USERS' PERSONAL DATA.".
5 Page 3, strike line 4.
6 Renumber succeeding subparagraphs accordingly.

Bill History

2026-06-03 Governor
Governor Signed
2026-05-12 Governor
Sent to the Governor
2026-05-12 House
Signed by the Speaker of the House
2026-05-12 Senate
Signed by the President of the Senate
2026-05-01 Senate
Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Concur - Repass
2026-04-30 House
House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
2026-04-29 House
House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee, Floor
2026-04-28 House
House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
2026-04-23 House
House Committee on Business Affairs & Labor Refer Amended to House Committee of the Whole
2026-04-06 House
Introduced In House - Assigned to Business Affairs & Labor
2026-03-03 Senate
Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
2026-03-02 Senate
Senate Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Committee
2026-02-27 Senate
Senate Second Reading Laid Over to 03/02/2026 - No Amendments
2026-02-24 Senate
Senate Committee on Business, Labor, & Technology Refer Amended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole
2026-01-27 Senate
Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Business, Labor, & Technology

Official Summary Text

The act requires an operating system provider that operates a publicly available internet website, software application, online service, or platform that distributes and facilitates, on a commercial basis, the download of applications from third-party developers to users of devices (covered application store) or makes a covered application store available preinstalled on an operating system to:
Provide an accessible interface at account setup that requires an account holder to indicate the birth date, age, or age bracket of the user of that device in order to provide a signal regarding the user's age (age signal) to applications available in the covered application store;
Provide application developers with a reasonably consistent, real-time application programming interface to request and receive an age signal; and
Send only the minimum amount of information necessary to comply with the act. An operating system provider or covered application store shall not share an age signal with a third party for a purpose not required by the act.
The act requires a consumer software application that is accessed through a covered application store and that may be run or directed by a user on a device (covered application) to request an age signal with respect to a particular user when the covered application is initially launched or when a user first creates an account. A covered application that receives an age signal is deemed to have knowledge of the age range of the user to whom that age signal pertains across all platforms of the application and points of access of the application. However, if a developer has clear and convincing information that a user's age is different than the age indicated by an age signal, the developer shall use that information as the primary indicator of the user's age range.
A developer shall ensure that a covered application that receives an age signal does not:
Request more information concerning a user from an operating system provider or a covered application store than is necessary to comply with the act; or
Communicate an age signal to a third party for a purpose not required by the act.
With respect to a device for which account setup was completed before July 1, 2028, the act requires an operating system provider to provide, before January 1, 2029, an accessible interface that allows an account holder to indicate the birth date or age of the user of that device for the purpose of providing an age signal regarding the user's age-bracket data to covered applications available in the operating system provider's covered application store. If a covered application last updated on or after July 1, 2027, was downloaded to a device before July 1, 2028, and the covered application has not requested an age signal with respect to the user of the device on which the covered application was downloaded, the covered application must request an age signal from the covered application store from which the covered application was downloaded with respect to that user before January 1, 2029.
A person that violates the act must pay a civil penalty of not more than $2,500 for each minor affected by each negligent violation or not more than $7,500 for each minor affected by each intentional violation. The penalty is assessed and recovered in a civil action brought by the attorney general. An operating system provider or covered application store that makes a good faith effort to comply with the act is not liable for an erroneous age signal or for conduct by a covered application that receives an age signal.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)