Does it run applications? The point of the law is to collect (and device setup) the age of the (I guess primary?) user, and communicate that (as a range?) to any applications it runs.

So, if you don't run applications, does this matter? Also, enforcement is by the CA attorney general, so random people can't go after you.

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wrs 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Well, it’s a programmable calculator, so…how does the law define “applications”?

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meatmanek 4 hours ago | parent [-]

(c) “Application” means a software application that may be run or directed by a user on a computer, a mobile device, or any other general purpose computing device that can access a covered application store or download an application.

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riskable 2 hours ago | parent [-]

The calculator firmware is a "software application" that's run by a user on a mobile device but it can't access an application store or download applications. For that you need a PC.

So github.com is the violator, here, since it's a software application that may be run by a user on a computer and can download applications (loads of them!).

	▲	onionisafruit an hour ago \| parent [-]
		I've read through the CA law a couple of times and can't figure out what an application store is supposed to do. What part of the law would github violate?

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kmeisthax 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

The California bill basically says any OS with an app store needs to collect an age signal and provide age bucketing to an app store (presumably even third-party ones, but notably NOT extension stores) so it can forward that information onto developers in that store.

There's no further elaboration on what age signals are preferred, so my assumption is that a DoB field in the user profile and a system service to request the age bucket is good enough. It's absolutely silly, but DB48X could implement that.

There's a related question of who is actually liable under this law - it seems written to target just Apple, Google, and Microsoft; and it only makes sense in the context of consumer electronics. Like, how does this work with enterprise systems? Servers? Is IBM going to have to rush out a patch for z/VM to ask the system administrator what their date of birth is?