Revert "userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records (#40954)" by paramazo · Pull Request #41179 · systemd/systemd · GitHub

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Revert "userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records (#40954)"#41179Closedparamazo wants to merge 1 commit intosystemd:mainsystemd/systemd:mainfrom paramazo:mainparamazo/systemd:mainCopy head branch name to clipboardConversationCommits1 (1)ChecksFiles changedClosedRevert "userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records (#40954)"#41179paramazo wants to merge 1 commit intosystemd:mainsystemd/systemd:mainfrom paramazo:mainparamazo/systemd:mainCopy head branch name to clipboardConversation

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Mar 19, 2026

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This reverts commit acb6624, reversing changes made to ba1caf0.
Revert "userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records (#40954)"
After extensive community discussion, legal review and consideration of
privacy implications, we have decided not to implement OS-level age
attestation / age bracket signaling as initially prototyped.
Reasons for revert:

Privacy & freedom concerns:

Introducing birth date storage or age queries (even local-only) creates
a new class of sensitive user data in the OS that didn't exist before.
It risks normalizing permission-like checks inside the desktop session
and could be extended to far more invasive controls in the future.

Open Source philosophy mismatch:

Community-driven distributions (especially non-corporate ones) have
neither the structure nor the desire to act as identity / age authorities.
Forcing account creation or age input breaks the "just works, no account
required" experience that many users value in Linux.

Practical & enforcement issues:

No reliable way to enforce truthful input without invasive verification
(which we explicitly refuse).
Minimal/local implementation still exposes users to website/app blocks
if sites decide to distrust non-signaling OSes → creates a de-facto
requirement anyway.

Legal / jurisdictional overreach:

Laws like California's AB 1043, Colorado SB 26-051 etc. appear poorly
drafted for volunteer / decentralized projects.
Many distributions (MidnightBSD, Ageless Linux forks, …) already chose
non-compliance + geo/licensing blocks instead → precedent exists to
simply not comply rather than build half-measures.

No upstream consensus:

freedesktop.org merge request closed after pushback.
Major distros (Ubuntu, Fedora, …) either paused, rejected or never
committed concrete changes.
systemd PR remains draft/unmerged in many views.

We may revisit if:

A zero-knowledge / cryptographic age-proof standard emerges that requires
no birth date storage.
Courts strike down or clarify the laws to exempt small/OSS projects.
A truly privacy-preserving, opt-in community consensus forms.

For now: keep the system free of age-related metadata and APIs.
See-also: https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/california-age-verification/181968
See-also: https://blog.system76.com/post/system76-on-age-verification

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Revert "userdb: add birthDate field to JSON user records (systemd#40954…

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This reverts commit acb6624, reversing
changes made to ba1caf0.

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It's an optional field in the userdb JSON object. It's not a policy engine, not an API for apps. We just define the field, so that it's standardized iff people want to store the date there, but it's entirely optional.
Hence, please move your discussion elsewhere, you are misunderstanding what systemd does here. It enforces zero policy, it leaves that up for other parts of the system.
And sorry, I am really not interested in these discussions here. it's not the right place for this, and please don't bring it here. Thank you.

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This pull request, initiated by paramazo, seeks to revert changes related to adding a “birthDate” field to JSON user records within the systemd project. The core rationale behind this reversion centers on significant concerns regarding privacy, adherence to the open-source philosophy, practical enforcement challenges, and legal considerations. The initial attempt to incorporate this field, represented by commit `ba1caf0`, was ultimately deemed unsuitable due to several interconnected issues.

The primary driver for the reversal was a deep apprehension regarding the introduction of sensitive user data – specifically, birthdates – into the OS. This raised significant privacy risks, potentially normalizing permission-based checks within desktop sessions and opening the door for more invasive control mechanisms in future systemd versions. Furthermore, the project’s commitment to the open-source philosophy, particularly the desire for a “just works, no account required” experience for Linux distributions, was fundamentally at odds with enforcing truthful user input related to age. The complexities and difficulties associated with genuine enforcement were also highlighted, recognizing that even a localized implementation could lead to website or application blocks based on distrust of OS-level age signaling.

Legally, the proposed implementation faced challenges, particularly concerning regulations like California’s AB 1043 and Colorado SB 26-051. The project’s approach, viewed as a ‘half-measure’, was considered unworkable due to the poorly drafted nature of these laws and the existing precedent of other distributions opting for non-compliance via geo-blocking and licensing restrictions rather than implementing similar controls. A key point of contention was the lack of upstream consensus, specifically the rejection of the PR by freedesktop.org and the stalled progress of the PR in major distributions such as Ubuntu and Fedora.

In essence, the decision was made to eliminate age-related metadata and APIs from the systemd codebase entirely, prioritizing a minimalist approach that avoids any potential for misuse or conflict with user freedoms and open-source principles. Poettering, a key contributor, emphasized that the field’s existence was purely optional, serving solely as a standardized data point if users chose to store birthdates, but not as a repository for policy enforcement. The discussion regarding the change was moved out of the github PR, as it was deemed inappropriate for that forum.

Ultimately, the reversion demonstrates a commitment to safeguarding user privacy and upholding the open-source ethos, even if that means foregoing potentially useful data points. The project’s decision reflects a cautious approach, prioritizing long-term sustainability and alignment with core principles over potentially short-sighted implementations that could introduce unintended consequences or legal complications. The project maintained that a zero-knowledge/cryptographic age-proof standard would need to emerge before revisiting the issue.