Your PC Might Soon Demand Proof of Age Before Letting You Browse. Here's What to Know

Age verification laws are no longer limited to porn sites. Two US states have already passed laws requiring your operating system to collect your age, and a federal law is under discussion. After more than two dozen states passed laws targeting adult websites like PornHub —and Utah moved against VPN use —the next battleground is your operating system . Starting in 2027, California's  Digital Age Assurance Act  will require operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android, ChromeOS, and Linux distributions, to ask users for their age during device setup and share an age range with apps. Depending on how future laws evolve, that process could eventually involve government IDs, credit cards, or biometric verification. Aaron Mackey, deputy legal director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, warns the effects won't stop at California’s borders. Because tech companies rarely build separate operating systems for different states, he says these systems will likely be rolled out "for everyone who uses [operating systems], including the billions of folks outside of California." You May Also Like Colorado followed California by passing a similar law, and the two states are unlikely to remain alone for long. Similar bills are advancing in other states, while the proposed federal Parents Decide Act would expand age verification at the operating system level nationwide if passed. At WWDC 2026 , Apple discussed age-based content restrictions across apps and websites for child accounts, which are mandatory for users 13 years old and under. You might have to prove your age to avoid this requirement, too. Apple recently introduced mandatory age verification for new accounts in Texas , and more states are likely to follow. Privacy advocates, open-source developers, and lawmakers are now battling over a question that could reshape the future of computing: Should your computer know your age before you can use it? Here's what you need to know so far. Whi