Law / United States / 
California
AB 2273 (2022), California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act
Cal. Civ. Code §§ 1798.99.28-1798.99.40
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
Enjoined: enforcement paused by a court, effective 1 July 2024.
An age-appropriate design code rule binding private bodies.
As of 15 July 2026.
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Requires businesses providing an online service, product, or feature likely to be accessed by children under 18 to complete data protection impact assessments, configure default settings for high privacy and safety, and avoid dark patterns and profiling of minors.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionNo
Penalties
Civil penalties up to $2,500 per affected child for a negligent violation and up to $7,500 for an intentional violation.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
California Attorney General
Litigation
- Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- Docket
- 9th Cir. Nos. 23-2969 and 25-2366; N.D. Cal. No. 5:22-cv-08861-BLF
- Posture
- The data protection impact assessment requirement, data use restrictions, dark patterns restriction, and notice and cure provision remain enjoined. A March 12, 2026 Ninth Circuit ruling vacated the injunction on the coverage definition and age estimation requirement and remanded to the district court to decide whether the remaining provisions are severable.
What it reaches
Age threshold
18
Covered services
Online services, products, or features likely to be accessed by children.
Verification methods
Facial estimation, Self declaration
Who checks it
Audit expectation
periodic
Who audits it
Self
Where the report goes
Kept, Produced on request
When LexLint raises it
serves_minors
Read the law
official Civil Code text and the Ninth Circuit's opinion in NetChoice, LLC v. Bonta
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.