Parent's Accountability and Child Protection Act (online sales of age-restricted products)
Civ. Code 1798.99.1
Children
Requires sellers of products and services that minors may not legally buy to take reasonable steps (such as checking government ID, requiring a non-prepaid credit card, or shipping only to an adult) to confirm buyers are of legal age, and bars using the age-verification data for anything else.
- Where
- California
- Citation
- Cal. Civ. Code 1798.99.1
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 2020-01-01
- Last amended
- 2023-01-01
- Enforced by
- California Attorney General and local prosecutors
- People can sue
- No
- Penalties
- Civil penalty up to $7,500 per violation (1798.99.1(d)).
- Applies to
- Persons or businesses doing business in California that sell products or services illegal to sell to minors, such as aerosol paint, etching cream, dangerous fireworks, UV tanning, ephedrine supplements, body branding, firearms, BB devices, and ammunition (1798.99.1(b)-(c))
- Exempts businesses under laws giving greater privacy protection or requiring stricter age verification (1798.99.1(e))
Practices it requires
- Take reasonable steps to ensure the purchaser of a listed age-restricted product or service is of legal age; consent obtained through the minor does not count.Cal. Civ. Code 1798.99.1(a)(1)-(4)
- Do not retain, use, or disclose information received for age verification except to comply with this section or other law.Cal. Civ. Code 1798.99.1(a)(6)
Sources
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: 2020 effective date (AB 1511 of 2019) is from background knowledge; AB 1766 (Stats. 2022, Ch. 482) amendment presumed effective Jan. 1, 2023.
Research reference, not legal advice.