> [..] requires an account holder to _indicate_ [..]

i.e. this doesn't require age verification at all

just a user profile age property

> [..] interface that identifies, at a minimum, which of the following _categories_ pertains to the user [..]

so you have to give apps and similar a 13+,16+,18+,21+ hint (for US)

if combined with parent controls and reasonably implemented this can archive pretty much anything you need "causal" age verification for

- without any identification of the person, its just an age setting and parent controls do allow parents to make sure it's correct

- without face scans or similar AI

- without device attestation/non open operating systems/hardware

like any such things, it should have some added constraints (e.g. "for products sold with preinstalled operating system", "personal OS only" etc.)

but this gets surprisingly close to allowing "good enough privacy respecting" age verification

the main risk I see is that

- I might have missed some bad parts parts

- companies like MS, Google, Apple have interest in pushing malicious "industry" standards which are over-enginered, involve stuff like device attestation and IRL-persona identification to create an artificial moat/lock out of any "open/cost free" OS competition (i.e. Linux Desktop, people installing their own OS etc.).

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"causal" age verification == for games, porn etc. not for opening a bank account, taking a loan etc. But all of that need full IRL person identification anyway so we can ignore it's use case for any child protection age verification law

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it's still not perfect, by asking every day daily used software can find the birthdate. But vendors could take additional steps to reduce this risk in various ways, through never perfect. But nothing is perfekt.

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Enforcement is also easy:

Any company _selling_ in California has to comply, any other case is a niche product and for now doesn't matter anyway in the large picture.

> i.e. this doesn't require age verification at all, just a user profile age property

This is usually how they do it though. First make a dumb law with poor enforcement. People don't push back about it because it obviously won't be enforced. Wait a bit, then say "people are flagrantly violating this law, we need better enforcement". At that point it's a lot harder to say "it shouldn't be a law at all!" because nobody complained when it was brought into law.

I just set up an iPhone and it asked me if I was (roughly) a child, a teenager, or an adult. So some of this stuff is already here.