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Colorado SB26-051, the Age Attestation on Computing Devices bill, was signed into law on June 3, 2026, and is scheduled to take effect July 1, 2028. It requires covered operating-system providers and app stores to make a limited age signal available to covered apps. Its open-source exemption is conditional: software must be licensed to allow copying, redistribution and modification, and providers or developers must not restrict installation of modified versions.

What Colorado’s age-attestation law requires

Enacted as Colorado Revised Statutes article 30, “Age Attestation for Online Users,” SB26-051 creates a way for apps to receive an age category through a device or app-store interface rather than collecting a user’s exact birth date themselves.

An operating-system provider that operates a covered application store or preinstalls one must provide an accessible account-setup interface through which the device user can enter a birth date, age or age bracket. Providers and covered stores must also make age information available to covered apps through a reasonably consistent, real-time API and send only the minimum information necessary.

A covered app must request an age signal on first launch or when the user first creates an account. It may request updated age-bracket information when needed. The law treats the app as knowing the user’s age range across its platforms and access points unless clear and convincing information indicates otherwise.

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The statutory age categories are under 13, 13–15, 16–17, and 18 or older. The signal is described in the law as non-personally identifiable age-bracket data. That label does not mean the law establishes that every implementation is risk-free; its data-minimization and use restrictions still apply.

Does the law exempt Linux or open-source software?

Not categorically. The exemption is based on what the license permits and whether the provider or developer restricts installing modified versions—not on whether a project calls itself open source or uses Linux.

Section 6-30-105(3)(e) excludes an operating-system provider or developer distributing software under license terms that permit recipients to “copy, redistribute, and modify the software without any platform-imposed technical or contractual restrictions imposed by the provider or developer on installing all modified versions.”

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In practical terms, the test has two parts:

  • The license must permit recipients to copy, redistribute and modify the software.
  • The provider or developer must not impose technical or contractual platform restrictions that prevent installing all modified versions.

A distribution with permissive source-code licensing could still fail the second part if its provider restricts installation of modified builds. Conversely, the law’s text focuses on the licensing and installation conditions, not the operating system’s name. Whether a particular distribution or app qualifies depends on its license and the restrictions its provider or developer imposes.

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Which other software and services are excluded?

The law’s definitions exclude several categories in addition to qualifying open-source distributions:

  • Applications that do not process users’ personal data.
  • Applications obtained from a free, publicly available code repository.
  • Code-repository providers and containerized software distributions, which are excluded from the definition of covered application stores.
  • Platforms that distribute extensions, plug-ins, add-ons or other software that runs exclusively inside a separate host application.
  • Developers whose predominant or exclusive function is restricted business or enterprise communication, enterprise software functions, or technical support.

The article also does not apply to broadband internet access, telecommunications, delivery or use of a physical product, or specified noncommercial state and local government data.

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Will an app receive a user’s exact birth date?

The required app-facing signal is an age bracket, not a requirement to disclose an exact birth date to the app. The operating-system provider’s account-setup interface can accept a birth date, age or age bracket; the law separately requires the provider and covered store to expose the minimum necessary information through the API. Developers may use the signal only to comply with applicable law. They may not solicit extra age information or share the signal for unrelated purposes.

When does SB26-051 take effect?

The Colorado General Assembly lists July 1, 2028, as the law’s effective date. The statute also gives providers and developers transition time for some existing devices and app installations:

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  • Existing device accounts: For devices whose account setup was completed before July 1, 2028, providers must offer an interface to enter a birth date or age before January 1, 2029.
  • Apps already downloaded: A covered app last updated on or after July 1, 2027, and downloaded before July 1, 2028, must request an age signal before January 1, 2029, if it has not already done so.
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What are the penalties for violations?

The attorney general may assess and recover civil penalties in a civil action. The maximum is up to $2,500 for each minor harmed by each negligent violation, or up to $7,500 for each minor harmed by each intentional violation. These are statutory maximums tied to a minor harmed and a violation, not flat penalties for every technical error.

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  • Unlimited Standard ID Scanning — Always Free - Instantly verifies age and expiration on every scan and automatically creates a compliance log - Eliminates math mistakes and protects your business during inspections.
  • Optional On-Demand Fake ID Detection — 90%+ Accuracy - True fake ID detection powered by Forensic Barcode Scan industry-leading authentication technology. Analyzes encrypted barcode data against a live security database - Includes 6 free fake checks to try it out. After that, simply purchase scan credits. You only pay when you choose to run a fake check. Unlimited fake scans are not available.
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Operating-system providers and covered app stores have a good-faith safe harbor: they are not liable for an erroneous age signal or a covered app’s conduct in response to that signal when they make a good-faith effort, taking available technology and reasonable technical limitations or outages into account.

What the legislative record says

The Colorado General Assembly’s bill record identifies Senators Matt Ball and Larry Liston and Representatives Amy Paschal and Naquetta Ricks as prime sponsors; it also lists Nicholaus Hinrichsen, Meghan Lindsay and Ty Story as cosponsors. A House Business Affairs & Labor hearing summary dated April 23, 2026, records Carl Richell, representing the Open Source Community, testifying in support. The committee adopted amendments L.005, L.006 and L.004 without objection, then referred the amended bill to the Committee of the Whole on a 7–6 vote.

The enacted declaration describes the intended balance this way: “A mechanism that allows a computing device to provide a minimal age-category signal to applications can enable compliance with these obligations while minimizing the collection and retention of personal data.”

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