👍CA Law Exempts Open-Source OSes From Digital Age Assurance Act
Linux and SteamOS users can breathe easy
TL;DR
California's AB 1856 exempts open-source OSes from collecting user age data, a win for Linux and SteamOS users. The law takes effect January 1, 2027, but leaves SteamOS's status unclear.
California's legislature has passed Assembly Bill 1856, exempting open-source operating systems from the State's Digital Age Assurance Act. This change ends a year of uncertainty for Linux distributions and SteamOS, which were previously unsure if they'd need to collect user age data during account setup. The law's amendments redefine 'operating system provider' to exclude entities distributing software under licenses like GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache. The law's definition of an application excludes software components not offered as standalone executables through app stores. Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android remain in scope, requiring age collection from January 1, 2027. GrapheneOS, distributed under open-source MIT and Apache licenses, is now fully exempt.
Key Points
AB 1856 exempts open-source OSes from collecting user age data, a win for Linux and SteamOS users.
The Senate amended the Bill on August 21, passing it on the 26th in a 39-0 vote.
The Assembly accepted these changes in a concurrence vote on August 27, 2023.
The law takes effect on January 1, 2027, but SteamOS's status remains unclear.
GrapheneOS, distributed under MIT and Apache licenses, is now fully exempt from the law.
Why It Matters
If you're running Linux or using SteamOS, this change means you won't have to collect user age data during account setup. The law's definition of an application excludes software components not offered as standalone executables through app stores, which covers most open-source distributions. However, the status of SteamOS remains uncertain, leaving some questions for developers and users.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does this matter?
If you're running Linux or using SteamOS, this change means you won't have to collect user age data during account setup. The law's definition of an application excludes software components not offered as standalone executables through app stores, which covers most open-source distributions. However, the status of SteamOS remains uncertain, leaving some questions for developers and users.
What happened?
California's AB 1856 exempts open-source OSes from collecting user age data, a win for Linux and SteamOS users. The law takes effect January 1, 2027, but leaves SteamOS's status unclear.
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