AB 1856 (2026), Digital Age Assurance Act amendments (operating systems and application stores)

AB 1856, enacted as 2026 Cal. Stats. ch. 184, amends the Digital Age Assurance Act (Civil Code Sections 1798.500 to 1798.504) rather than extending it to browsers or websites: it applies the age-signal duty to any operating system that operates on a device and has an account setup feature, removes the prior definition tying the protected 'user' to a child, and requires the signal be sent to a covered application store or to an application developer.

A developer must request a signal when an application is downloaded and launched, must treat the signal as the primary indicator of a user's age absent clear and convincing contrary information, and may not request more information than the minimum needed; nobody may request a signal unless required by this title or other applicable law.

For a device or application already set up or downloaded before January 1, 2027, the operating system provider or developer must request or provide the signal by July 1, 2027.

The Act carries forward the Digital Age Assurance Act's existing Attorney General civil enforcement (up to $2,500 per affected child for a negligent violation or $7,500 for an intentional violation) and adds good faith compliance defenses and a nondiscrimination duty barring an operating system or application store from using compliance data anticompetitively. Approved by the Governor and chaptered September 10, 2026, effective January 1, 2027.