This page is a running list of Open Source Operating Systems and Software (Linux & *BSD distributions, system components, etc.) and what their current status is regarding age verification.

There are several locales which have laws (in various stages) which require Operating Systems and their software components to perform some level of age verification and reporting.

Passed OS-Level Age Verification Laws: Brazil, & California.

Proposed OS-Level Age Verification Laws: Colorado, Illinois, & New York.

Operating Systems Not Implementing Age Verification

The developers or publishers of these open source Operating Systems have decided to not implement Age Verification, or are currently restricting access in regions with Age Verification laws.

	Operating System	Notes
⛔	Omarchy Linux	Developer statement
⛔	Devuan Linux	Developer statement
⛔	FreeDOS	Developer statement
⛔	Artix Linux	Developer statement
⛔	DB48X	Calculator firmware, Developer statement
⛔	Arch Linux 32	Developer forbids usage in Brazil, California
⛔	Ageless Linux	Debian fork created to protest Age Verification
⛔	Vendefoul Wolf Linux	Developer statement
⛔	Adenix GNU/Linux	Developer statement opposing age verification — founder also posted to the Debian debian-legal mailing list requesting mechanisms to remove age verification packages and blacklist affected regions; raises constitutional and free speech concerns
💬	Bazzite	Brazil block was applied by mistake and not intentional; official clarification on X; no official position on age verification adopted

Operating Systems Planning to Implement Age Verification

The developers or publishers of these Open Source Operating Systems have made plans and/or statements that they intend to comply with new Age Verification laws. But, as yet, that Age Verfication functionality is not fully implemented.

	Operating System	Notes
🏗️	Ubuntu	Planning Discussion, Ubuntu VP Statement
🏗️	Pop!_OS	System76 Statement opposing, but planning to implement
🏗️	elementary OS	Founder Statement planning to implement
🏗️	Whonix / Kicksecure	Forum discussion — actively investigating compliance while prioritizing privacy; researching age-bracket API approach that avoids storing full birth dates; no implementation yet, team committed to announcing before any changes affect users

Operating Systems With Ongoing Discussions (No Decision Yet)

The developers or publishers of these Operating Systems have active community or developer discussions about Age Verification laws but have not yet made an official decision.

	Operating System	Notes
💬	NixOS	Community discussion — contributors skeptical NixOS will implement verification independently without a standardized ecosystem-wide approach; no official position adopted
💬	Fedora	Community discussion — proposal to make networking an optional patch to avoid triggering regulatory requirements; community raises technical concerns; coordinating cross-distro solutions with openSUSE; no official position adopted
💬	Debian	debian-legal mailing list — Adenix GNU/Linux founder (March 4, 2026) states his distros will not implement age checks and requests mechanisms to remove age verification packages and blacklist affected regions (California, Colorado); raises constitutional and free speech concerns; no official Debian project position adopted
💬	EndeavourOS	Developer comment — acknowledge complexity, lack resources for independent compliance; called on OSI, FSF, and Linux Foundation to take a stance
💬	OpenMandriva	No official position adopted yet; project is considering multiple approaches to dealing with what they characterize as "stupid, dumb, and evil" age verification laws; opposed to implementation

Operating Systems Which Have Already Implemented Age Verification

	Operating System	Notes
✅	MidnightBSD	Age verification daemon added — ageverifd daemon committed to the base system; previously had license temporarily forbidding usage in Brazil and California until implementation finished

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Other Open Source Software

Age verification is not limited to full Operating Systems. System-level components and desktop infrastructure projects are also beginning to implement or plan support for age verification.

Software With Ongoing Discussions (No Decision Yet)

	Software	Notes
💬	F-Droid	No official statement on California AB-1043, Brazil Lei 15.211, or Colorado SB26-051; internal GitLab issues discuss segregating adult content to a separate repository; forum thread on EU age verification laws; legal analysis suggests F-Droid may fall outside scope as a nonprofit FOSS project; broader legal resilience initiative underway; notably F-Droid published an open letter opposing Google's mandatory developer identity verification requirement (effective September 2026) — if Google enforces identity verification for all Android developers, age verification for app distribution may become redundant as developer identity would already be established

Software Planning to Implement Age Verification

	Software	Notes
🏗️	AccountsService	MR: Add BirthDate with polkit-gated GetBirthDate and SetBirthDate methods — stores birth date in /var/lib/AccountsService/users/; reading is gated by polkit (org.freedesktop.accounts.read-own-protected-data), writing requires org.freedesktop.accounts.user-administration; uses same YYYY-MM-DD validation as systemd PR #40954; MR open
🏗️	XDG Desktop Portal	Draft PR: Add parental controls to the Accounts portal — proposes an age verification API allowing apps to query age ranges rather than exact birth dates; discussion thread locked by maintainers (March 10, 2026), further comments restricted to collaborators only
🏗️	archinstall	PR: Add required birth date field to user creation — by the same author as the systemd birthDate PR; stores birth date in a systemd userdb drop-in at /etc/userdb/<user>.user during Arch installation; PR open but discussion locked as "too heated"; maintainer (Torxed) awaiting an official organizational stance from Arch Linux before merging
🏗️	Pacman	Draft MR: Age verification support — draft merge request proposing age verification integration into the Arch Linux package manager; currently only updates doc/PKGBUILD.5.asciidoc (documentation only); may be a joke or placeholder, but could still be taken as a serious suggestion

Software Which Has Already Implemented Age Verification

	Software	Notes
✅	systemd	Merged: Add birthDate field to user database records — administrators can store birth dates in user records to support age verification laws (Brazil, California, Colorado); revert attempt rejected
⛔	Liberated Systemd (systemd fork)	Fork of systemd without age verification — created in opposition to the merged birthDate field; removes age verification functionality from the base
⛔	dinit	Developer discussion — developer considers age verification irrelevant to the project and is opposed to implementing it

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Mobile Operating Systems

Both major mobile OS vendors have already shipped age verification APIs at the OS and App Store levels.

Mobile Operating Systems Not Implementing Age Verification

	OS	Notes
⛔	GrapheneOS	Developer statement

Mobile OS Which Have Already Implemented Age Verification

	OS	Notes
✅	Android (Google)	Play Age Signals API — live for Brazil (March 17, 2026) and rolling out for California (AB-1043, effective Jan 1, 2027); shares age brackets (0–12, 13–15, 16–17, 18+) with apps; data may not be used for advertising or profiling
✅	iOS (Apple)	Declared Age Range API — live for Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Utah, and Louisiana (February 24, 2026); shares age range only with user consent; no PII or document scans passed to developers; developer announcement

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Browsers

Browsers With Published Analysis or Discussion

	Browser	Notes
💬	Brave	Blog: "The Limits of Zero-Knowledge for Age Verification" — published skeptical technical analysis of ZKP-based approaches; raises concerns about reidentification risks, centralization, and exclusion of users without formal ID; no implementation announced
💬	Mozilla Firefox	No official public statement found regarding California AB-1043, Brazil Lei 15.211, or Colorado SB26-051; only existing age check is a COPPA-related 13+ gate for Firefox Account signup
💬	Chromium / Google Chrome	No formal public statement on the specific laws; Google has implemented age verification for signed-in Chrome users via Credential Manager API; Digital Credentials API documented for identity verification but not directly tied to the OS-level laws

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Messaging Apps

Messaging Apps Which Have Already Implemented Age Verification

	App	Notes
✅	Telegram	Official age verification bot — on-device facial analysis (no data sent to servers); currently live in the UK and expanding to other jurisdictions; restricts access to 18+ content based on verification result

Messaging Apps Planning to Implement Age Verification

	App	Notes
🏗️	WhatsApp (Meta)	Meta AgeKey — uses on-device biometric authentication to confirm age bracket without sharing PII; Phase 1 rolling out in UK, Australia, and Brazil; parent-managed accounts for under-13 users announced March 11, 2026
🏗️	Discord	Age assurance rollout delayed to second half of 2026 after user backlash; uses age inference model for most users (90%+ require no action); offers on-device facial estimation or government ID via third-party vendor; note: a breach of third-party vendor 5CA in October 2025 exposed government ID photos submitted for age verification appeals, affecting ~70,000 users

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Video Platforms

Video Platforms Which Have Already Implemented Age Verification

	Platform	Notes
✅	YouTube (Google)	Live in the UK, EU, EEA, Switzerland, and Australia; rolling out in the US; uses AI age estimation (viewing patterns, account history) combined with optional ID upload, credit card check, or Yoti-based facial scan; blog announcement
✅	TikTok (ByteDance)	Live globally; uses signal-based detection plus Yoti facial estimation and ID verification; reports removing ~6 million underage accounts per month; complying with Brazil Lei 15.211 under ANPD regulatory order; Europe rollout announcement

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Messaging Apps With Ongoing Discussions

	App	Notes
💬	Signal	No official statement on California AB-1043, Brazil Lei 15.211, or Colorado SB26-051; only existing requirement is a 13+ minimum age in Terms of Service; no age verification features found in public repositories
💬	Matrix	Blog post (February 2026) — acknowledges laws are legally binding and must be followed; Safety team and DPO evaluating privacy-preserving compliance options; notes Matrix's decentralized nature allows individual server operators to make their own assessments; no implementation announced