Good things comes in threes - or so they say. California might just be the third state to enact age verification laws for certain digital services.

On September 13, 2025, the California legislature unanimously passed Assembly Bill 1043, the “Digital Age Assurance Act,” which would introduce standardized age verification signals across operating systems, devices, and app stores. The bill now heads to Governor Gavin Newsom, who has until October 13th to sign or veto.

I recently wrote about Texas and Utah enacting similar App Store Accountability Acts, which impose new parental consent and age verification requirements on app store operators. The Texas law takes effect January 1, 2026, and Utah’s follows on May 6, 2026.

Below, I've broken down some key differences between California's proposed AB 1043 and the current Texas and Utah age verification laws.

Who Does This Apply To

At a high level, the Texas and Utah laws focus solely on mobile devices. California’s AB 1043 expands the scope by also covering computers and other general-purpose computing devices.

While Texas and Utah apply to “app stores” (as defined in each statute), California sweeps in a broader set of players. AB 1043 applies both to app stores (defined as “covered application stores”) and to “operating system providers” — any entity that “develops, licenses, or controls the operating system software on a computer, mobile device, or other general purpose computing device.”

Similarly, AB 1043 defines “application” more broadly, reaching beyond mobile apps to include any program operating on a computer, mobile device, or general-purpose computing device.

What Does This Mean

Unlike Texas and Utah, California AB 1043 would require operating systems on smartphones, tablets, and computers (such as Apple, Google, Microsoft, just to name a few) to build an account setup system where users must indicate their age, birthday, or both. Like Texas and Utah, the law then requires providers to sort users into age brackets: 12 and under, 13–15, 16–17, and 18+.

California diverges in a key way: the responsibility sits with operating system providers to transmit an age “signal” to app stores and developers. Developers receiving this signal are then “deemed to have actual knowledge” of their users’ age range. In other words, developers can no longer ignore the age of their users. AB 1043 also expressly prohibits developers from sharing this data with any third party for purposes unrelated to compliance with the bill.

If enacted, AB 1043 would take effect on January 1, 2027. The bill also includes a look-back implementation period: by July 1, 2027, operating system providers must have account setup systems in place, and app developers must begin requesting age signals from app stores.

Why This Matters

The California Attorney General would have authority to enforce AB 1043, including seeking injunctions and civil penalties of up to $2,500 per affected child for negligent violations and $7,500 per affected child for intentional violations — meaningful amounts which undoubtedly can and will add up.

If signed, AB 1043 would significantly reshape the operations of operating systems, app stores, and app developers alike. We're continuing to monitor its progress toward enactment. 

Whether or not Governor Newsom signs AB 1043 come October, the bill highlights a national trend toward imposing proactive safeguards to protect minors online and suggests that the compliance burden for platforms, app stores, and developers may continue to increase as other states follow suit.