Upcoming California law to require operating systems to check your age https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/03/upcoming-california-law-to-require-operating-systems-to-check-your-age/

[gamingonlinux@mastodon.social]

California law to require operating systems to check your age https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2026/03/california-law-to-require-operating-systems-to-check-your-age/

#PCGaming #Linux #SteamOS #Windows #California

[bazkie@beige.party]

@gamingonlinux yeah good luck enforcing that for linux lol

[bongmaster@hol.ogra.ph]

@gamingonlinux@mastodon.social another bullshit law to track peoples activity cos "anyone using Linux must be a hacker and therefore a troublemaker" -_-

[operator@vis.social]

@gamingonlinux #AmiGoHome

[martouf@piaille.fr]

@gamingonlinux what could possibly go wrong ? ><

[jaggyjeff@mastodon.social]

@gamingonlinux how does one come up with such a crappy idea ?

[lomkey@mastodon.online]

@JaggyJeff @gamingonlinux is way to control information well a start of it what they want

[jaggyjeff@mastodon.social]

@Lomkey @gamingonlinux how difficult is it for self-called progressists to see how their own ideas of control can become authoritarian tools in the wrong hands ?

[musluman@mastodon.social]

@gamingonlinux holy shit west is fallen

[dtwx@mastodon.social]

@gamingonlinux more than happy for iOS to verify my age and share that verification in some basic form (i.e. some age "bucket" plus the verification method). Apple already has plenty of evidence of my age, I'm not giving them any extra information and it should mean I have to give less information to others.

It's a massive net gain over where we're currently headed, where I'll have to share an ID with giphy so I can browse & send a gif with blood in.

(Obvs I would not share an ID with giphy)

[chronohart@tech.lgbt]

@gamingonlinux
This falls apart immediately: what about household computers? *Plenty* of families don't even set up unique user accounts for each individual user of their computer, so how is that expected to be handled when they have a mix of age ranges on the device?

And if all the "verification" is is entering a birth date upon account creation, this will be super easy to work around, but it's entirely likely this whole thing is simply an attempt to chip away at one end of the Overton window on this topic anyway and much much worse legislation is already planned.

[jprjr@mastodon.social]

@gamingonlinux it's pretty obvious this law was written by people who only use single-user phones and tablets.

Also, and I cannot stress this enough - very few tech-savvy people get into politics. I've been asked some incredibly bananas tech questions by politicians before. They're very out of touch. This law being a prime example.

If you live in California you need to call your local reps and tell them why this is a bad idea.

[jprjr@mastodon.social]

@gamingonlinux also worth noting that California is such a huge state population-wise that some of their laws and regulations can become de facto nationwide standards.

Odds are you'll see this age verification shit pop up no matter where you live because nobody wants to maintain a separate California edition of anything.

What will happen is everything will ask your age - whether required or not - because there's no law saying they *can't* collect it, just laws saying where they have to.

[knobbytiresonly@mastodon.social]

@gamingonlinux isn't it amazing that a group of muppets that can barely navigate a smartphone or in some cases can't even figure out how to turn the alarm off on their car are making laws for tech‍️