Overview
- Lawmakers amended Assembly Bill 1856 to exclude operating systems distributed under licenses that let recipients copy, redistribute, or modify the software from being treated as an 'operating system provider'.
- The amendment requires providers to collect only the minimum information needed for age checks and bars misuse of any OS‑provided age signal.
- The change protects mainstream Linux distributions and other traditional open‑source projects from the law’s setup‑level age checks.
- Uncertainty remains for Linux‑based projects that include proprietary elements, such as Valve’s SteamOS, which may not meet the exemption and could still face age‑verification obligations.
- Proprietary platforms including major phone and PC OS vendors remain subject to the law and advocates warn the rules could still create access and privacy concerns depending on how enforcement and platform services are implemented.