> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://itsfoss.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Illinois Just Told Every Operating System to Start Reporting Your Kid's Age - URL: https://itsfoss.com/news/illinois-age-verification-bill/ - Published: 2026-08-07T09:57:09.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-07T09:57:09.000Z - Description: The Children's Online Social Media Safety Act has device makers collect the age bracket, but apps still have to act on it. - Author: Sourav Rudra - Tags: News Illinois has become the latest U.S. state to pull operating systems into the age verification pool. Governor [JB Pritzker](https://gov-pritzker-newsroom.prezly.com/?ref=itsfoss.com) has signed [HB5511](https://ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?GAID=18&DocNum=5511&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=167486&SessionID=114&ref=itsfoss.com), the **Children's Online Social Media Safety Act**, putting forward a new age verification framework for every device sold or used in the state. The bill imposes age check on "*covered manufacturers*," a category that lumps device makers, operating system providers, and app stores together. ## Protect the children! By **January 1, 2028**, these manufacturers have to build an interface at account setup asking a parent or account holder for the child's birth date. That date is then converted into one of four age brackets: *under 13*, *13 to 15*, *16 to 17*, or *18 and up*. *The law also stipulates that all transmitted digital signals have to be encrypted.* Applications can then pull that bracket through an API once a user downloads or launches them. Once they get a signal marking a user as a minor, they're legally treated as having "*actual knowledge*" of that. Once flagged, apps have to turn on a set of safety settings. Feeds get restricted, profiles get hidden from adult strangers, messages from adults get blocked, precise location gets masked, and notifications go dark between 10 PM and 7 AM. *Parents can override these defaults for their kids, and minors over 16 can do it themselves too.* **Apps have until July 1, 2028** to start requesting these signals, and **violations can cost up to $50,000 each**, enforced by the state [Attorney General](https://www.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/?ref=itsfoss.com). Device manufacturers and apps acting in good faith aren't liable if a signal turns out wrong. Rep. *Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz* led the bill through the House, with Reps. *Margaret Croke* and *Janet Yang Rohr* as chief co-sponsors, and more than a dozen others signed on. Sen. *Willie Preston* carried it in the Senate alongside Sens. *Robert F. Martwick*, *Mary Edly-Allen*, and *Adriane Johnson*. It passed 82-27 in the *House* and 57-0 in the *Senate* before clearing final concurrence unanimously. ## Open source exemption where? [Illinois](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illinois?ref=itsfoss.com) isn't the first state to try this model. Colorado's [SB26-051](https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/SB26-051?ref=itsfoss.com) and California's [AB-1043](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202520260AB1043&ref=itsfoss.com) both rely on the same OS-level age signal setup; apps request it, and the device answers. Both of these started off without any concessions for open source platforms (*e.g., Linux*). Colorado's SB26-051 originally applied to every operating system and developer without exception. System76 founder Carl Richell [worked directly with state lawmakers](https://itsfoss.com/news/colorado-age-attestation-bill-open-source-exemption/) to change that. The bill picked up language exempting operating systems and developers distributing software under terms that let anyone copy, redistribute, and modify it freely. It also added a clause blocking platforms from locking down modified versions. California's AB-1043 had the same gap. Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, the same lawmaker who wrote AB-1043, introduced [AB-1856](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202520260AB1856&ref=itsfoss.com) to fix it. After several rounds of edits, the amended bill redefines "*operating system provider*" to exclude anyone distributing software under those same open license terms. **Illinois has none of this**. HB5511's definitions for "*covered manufacturer*" and "*application store*" stay just as broad as these bills were before their amendments. ## My two cents Well, folks, we sure are getting close to someone's wet dream of having [a dystopian hellscape](https://marcuwekling.de/en/publications/?ref=itsfoss.com) where people don't have control over their [computers](https://itsfoss.com/news/age-verification-pandemic/), [food](https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/sustainable-agriculture/issues/corporate-control/?ref=itsfoss.com), or [water](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/08/datacenter-ai-drought-water?ref=itsfoss.com). On the one side, you have these so-called "*bipartisan*" bills passing through without much hindrance under the guise of protecting children, and then you have the island-class cretins who still haven't been prosecuted.