New proposals and legislation in states like California and Colorado move age verification beyond websites and into operating systems and private devices.

Under these frameworks, companies that develop operating systems may be required to implement age verification systems at the device level.

That means:

Verification tied to private computers and handheld devices

Identity systems potentially embedded into operating environments

Compliance burdens pushed onto software providers

Adults required to verify age in order to access lawful digital services

For over 40 years, personal computers have been private property. They have not required identity validation to operate.

Now the justification is child protection.

But the mechanics raise serious questions:

Why must adults surrender identification to access their own devices?

How is device-level ID verification enforced without creating data retention risks?

Who stores that information?

What liability exists if it is breached?

What precedent is set once identity becomes infrastructure?

Children do not purchase operating systems. Adults do.

Children can still access devices owned by parents.

So the burden falls on lawful adult users and businesses to implement and maintain identity systems.

The Digital Liberty Act stands for clear boundaries:

Privacy must not be surrendered as a condition of owning or operating private property.

Age protection should not require universal identification infrastructure.

Security solutions must not create permanent surveillance architecture.

Small developers and independent creators should not be forced into compliance systems that centralize identity verification.

Protecting children matters.

But the method matters just as much as the intention.

If digital access requires ID verification at the operating system level, we are not just regulating content — we are redefining the relationship between citizens and their private devices.

If you believe privacy and speech require guardrails against overreach, share and sign the Digital Liberty Act.

25 signatures is not enough.