What is Mudita's response to OS-level age-verification laws?

Mudita Products Privacy and Security
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So some really cool things have been happening in the United States legal environment! And by really cool I mean really awful! Both California and Colorado have passed age verification laws at the OS-level. The Colorado law is pretty much copy and pasted from California’s law, which Tom’s Hardware explains here:

”California’s Digital Age Assurance Act (AB 1043), signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October 2025, requires every operating system provider in California to collect age information from users at account setup and transmit that data to app developers via a real-time API, with the law taking effect on January 1, 2027.

The law’s broad definition of an “operating system provider” — anyone who “develops, licenses, or controls the operating system software on a computer, mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device” — pulls in not just Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS, but Linux distributions and Valve’s SteamOS.

According to AB 1043, OS providers must maintain a “reasonably consistent real-time application programming interface” that categorizes users into four age brackets — under 13, 13 to under 16, 16 to under 18, and 18 or older — and hand that signal to any developer who requests it when their app is downloaded or launched.

Developers who receive the signal are “deemed to have actual knowledge” of their users’ age range under the law, which shifts legal liability for age-appropriate content decisions onto them. Penalties for non-compliance run up to $2,500 per affected child for negligent violations and $7,500 for intentional ones, enforced by the California Attorney General.”

This would require (to my understanding), starting January 1st, 2027, that Mudita, if selling its phones to residents of California, or currently has a resident in California using its phone, collects and provides age data to any developer who would make applications for the InkApps store, and failing that, would be fined “per affected child.” (however that is defined if no age data is even collected in the first place??)

I am just wondering what Mudita’s response is to this law, as it compromises the privacy that users would be coming to the Kompakt for in the first place. I’m sure there’s legalese that I’m missing here, but my understanding is that MuditaOS would fall under the purview of this law

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(e) (1) “Covered application store” means a publicly available internet website, software application, online service, or platform that distributes and facilitates the download of applications from third-party developers to users of a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing that can access a covered application store or can download an application.

(2) “Covered application store” does not mean an online service or platform that distributes extensions, plug-ins, add-ons, or other software applications that run exclusively within a separate host application.

—not a legal advice - an opinion—
Mudita does not host a “store” - I think #2 applies

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From Mudita’s own website on its page for MuditaOS K 2.0:

”Choose which apps earn a place on your phone. InkApps is a curated collection of E Ink®-optimized apps created by Mudita and our Community, ready to install directly on Kompakt.”

Which reads to me like a “publicly available internet website, software application, online service, or platform that distributes and facilitates the download of applications from third-party developers to users of a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing that can access a covered application store or can download an application.”

Hell, the phrasing is so vague that the button at the top of the forums that leads you to the community apps ranking at Community Apps - Mudita Forum. A Community of Minimalist Technology Enthusiasts qualifies as a covered application store. It’s a publicly available website that distributes and facilitates the download of applications from third-party developers to users of a computer… that can download an application.”

MuditaOS is the operating system for the mobile device, the Kompakt. The programs that MuditaOS can run are applications, referred to as apps. The law is vague enough that pretty much any device that can download an APK falls under it, and any website that allows people to download an APK from it would be considered an “application store” per the language of the bill.

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Thank you for bringing this to our attention and for sharing such detailed information. I completely understand why this raises questions.

The most recent amendments to the California law were signed on September 10th this year, so, less than a week ago, that’s why it’s hard to say with certainty what implications they may have for MuditaOS K, Mudita Kompakt, or InkApps going forward. At this stage, I would not want to speculate or offer an interpretation that has not been properly verified.
I have passed this entire thread, including the legislation and the concerns raised here, along to our management. I believe it is important for our legal team to examine the exact language of the relevant laws and determine whether and how they apply to Mudita, our software, and our products.

Privacy is central to what many people value about Mudita Kompakt, so this is an important development to understand properly. Thank you again for flagging it and giving us something significant to consider.

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I am not sure about the September 10th amendment that @urszula mentions, but there was one passed in August that specifically addressed Linux and other OSS distributions. Likewise, I won’t attempt to interpret it myself, but you can find more info at AB 1856 Linux Exemption Confirmed: California's Historic Win

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oh thank you for this info, I don’t know how I missed this! This is real good news if Newsom signs it :smiley:

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California Assembly Bill 1856 (AB 1856) was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 10, 2026. This additional bill amends the state’s Digital Age Assurance Act (originally enacted via AB 1043 in 2025) to exempt open-source operating systems from mandatory OS-level age verification requirements.

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Aha! Serves me right for not digging in deeper. Thank you for clarifying.

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