Starting January 1, 2027, California's Assembly Bill No. 1043 mandates that operating system providers must collect age information from users when setting up their accounts. This change raises concerns for IT professionals regarding the deployment of devices, particularly with automated imaging processes. For example, if a Windows computer uses an unattend file for OOBE (Out Of Box Experience), will a new question about age need to be added? Additionally, how should these systems handle age verification for potentially underage users? This is especially pressing for shared public kiosk computers, such as those in libraries. Will device setups with tools like Autopilot now be required to address this age verification? The same questions arise for iPads and their deployment in kiosks, where quick setups are crucial. There seems to be uncertainty about how these regulations will impact existing systems and workflows.
4 Answers
This whole law feels like a nightmare for IT folks! Just think about all the servers and IoT devices that will have to incorporate this age-check. It's going to create awkward situations, especially for businesses that share devices. I mean, what’s an admin supposed to do with public kiosks?
Enforcement is going to be tricky! I always joke that when asked my age online, I'm 90 and have seen it all! But seriously, I'm curious how it'll be monitored. Guess IT departments will need some solid policies in place to handle this without making it a hassle.
Yeah, it really bugs me. The law seems to misunderstand how account setups work. When you set up a device, you often create accounts, and it’s typically not just for one user. Because of this, it sounds like we'd be required to ask users for age upon account creation, which is going to get messy quick!
For businesses, I wouldn’t stress too much. Most account management happens at the domain level, not locally, so if employee details are managed properly—like in Active Directory—this may just be something HR needs to sort out instead of every sysadmin worrying.
True! We don’t even deal with local accounts much in our organization; everything’s in AD. It seems like monitoring age info may only apply to individual setups, not enterprise environments.
Right? It’s going to be a headache for home users, but corporate settings might have enough safeguards in place to navigate this.
Exactly! It's not just about the OS; it's really about how the accounts interact. Having age details in the OS could shift the responsibility from apps to the system itself, but it raises so many questions about compliance, especially for something like Linux that might not even bother with this.