United States of America: Governor of California signed Bill amending Civil Code including age verification requirements for online services and software applications (AB 1043)

On 13 October 2025, the Governor of California signed into law the Bill amending the Civil Code to include age verification requirements for online services and software applications (AB 1043). The law introduces Title 1.81.9 (commencing with Section 1798.500) to Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code, cited as the Digital Age Assurance Act. The Act establishes obligations for operating system providers to provide accessible interfaces at account setup, requiring an account holder to indicate the birth date or age of the user for the purpose of generating an age-bracket signal communicated to application developers through a real-time application programming interface. It mandates that developers request and apply such signals when applications are downloaded and launched, treat them as the primary indicator of user age for compliance with applicable law, and refrain from sharing signal data beyond the purpose required by statute. The Act prohibits the use of collected data for anticompetitive purposes, enforces compliance through the Attorney General with civil penalties of up to USD 2’500 per child for negligent and USD 7’500 per child for intentional violations, and provides that its provisions are severable and complementary to the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act.