One step forward, two steps back on CA age bill
California's AB 1856 would exempt open-source operating systems from age-data collection, but it still expands age checks for browsers and websites.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
The EFF says the bill improves the law for open-source operating systems, but leaves major problems intact. It would still push age-request and age-collection requirements onto browsers and websites, and some key parts of the exemption remain unclear.
A new California bill gives open-source operating systems a pass from one part of an age-check rule, like letting one kid out of a big school rule. But the rule still makes websites and browsers ask everyone for their age, which can still cause problems.
Analysis
What changed
The EFF's Deeplinks post says California's AB 1856 would carve out an exemption for open-source operating systems from the requirement to collect and transmit users' age-bracket data. That is presented as a real improvement over the earlier law, and as a response to concerns raised by the open-source community.
What remains problematic
The same bill, however, would still require all web browsers and websites to request and collect users' ages. The EFF argues that this extends the age-bracketing approach adopted in last year's AB 1043 and worsens its harms to speech, privacy, and security. In other words, the exemption helps one part of the stack while leaving the larger surveillance-style structure in place.
Open questions
The post says some important details are still unclear. One is how the law would apply if an open-source operating system is included inside a commercial product or service. Another is whether the exemption is clearly limited to operating systems, or whether lawmakers should also make clear that open-source applications are covered when the exemption sits inside the "operating system provider" definition.
Overall, the article frames AB 1856 as a partial correction rather than a full fix: a win for open-source developers, but still a bill with serious unresolved privacy and implementation concerns.
Key points
- AB 1856 would exempt open-source operating systems from collecting and transmitting users' age-bracket data.
- The EFF says that change is a definite win for open-source developers.
- The bill would still require browsers and websites to request and collect users' ages.
- The EFF says the remaining structure continues to raise constitutional concerns around speech, privacy, and security.
- The scope of the exemption is still unclear in commercial products and for open-source applications.
If the bill passes in its narrower form, open-source operating systems would avoid a direct obligation to collect and pass along age-bracket data. That would reduce compliance burden for open-source developers and show that lawmakers are at least listening to community criticism.
The broader age-request rules for browsers and websites could still create privacy, speech, and security harms even with the open-source exemption. The unclear treatment of commercial products and applications could also leave developers unsure about where the exemption applies.
