Age-Appropriate Design Codes

Age-appropriate design codes regulate online services likely to be accessed by children, not only services directed at them. California's Age-Appropriate Design Code Act, modeled on the UK Children's Code, was set to take effect July 1, 2024. It requires impact assessments, high-privacy default settings for children, limits on collecting and using their precise geolocation, and a ban on dark patterns that push children to give up more data. On March 12, 2026 the Ninth Circuit narrowed the injunction against it, but its data protection and dark-pattern provisions remain blocked while the case continues. Vermont enacted its own code in 2025, effective January 1, 2027, adding limits on features designed to drive compulsive use and rules on age assurance. More states are following. For a site with a mixed-age audience, the practical question is which trackers run before anyone has established the visitor's age.