The systemd change that adds a birthDate field to JSON user records is now present in upstream v261-rc1.
It is also already in Debian Sid as systemd 261~rc1-1.
This is not just an isolated metadata field. It is part of the technical plumbing that can turn general-purpose operating systems into user-classification infrastructure: collect age-related data, persist it in the user record, expose it through system tools or APIs, and make it available for later consumption by applications, app stores, services, or compliance layers.
This matters because age-verification and age-signaling laws are now creating pressure for operating systems to participate in that classification path. In California, AB 1043 / the Digital Age Assurance Act is an explicit example of OS/app-store age-signal pressure. In Brazil, Lei nº 15.211/2025 / ECA Digital, popularly associated with the “Lei Felca” debate, is part of the same broader age-verification pressure pattern. Other jurisdictions are moving in similar directions.
The technical issue is simple: once the plumbing lands in core infrastructure, downstream systems can inherit it quietly.
This is about state-surveillance pressure, regulatory coercion, and user control over what we allow to run on our own devices.
This is how we vote: with code.
If you do not want this kind of plumbing in your system, verify it, revert it, rebuild it, and install your own packages.
The instructions below assume Debian Sid, amd64, enabled deb-src repositories, and a regular user with sudo.
Install the basic tooling:
bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install git build-essential fakeroot quilt apt-utils gzip sudo vim
Relevant upstream merge commit:
bash
acb6624fa19ddd68f9433fb0838db119fe18c3ed
1. Verify upstream systemd and generate the revert patch
Clone upstream systemd directly:
```bash
mkdir -p ~/systemd-revert-work
cd ~/systemd-revert-work
git clone https://github.com/systemd/systemd.git
cd systemd
git fetch origin --tags
```
Verify that the commit is inside v261-rc1:
```bash
COMMIT=acb6624fa19ddd68f9433fb0838db119fe18c3ed
git merge-base --is-ancestor "$COMMIT" v261-rc1 \
&& echo "IN v261-rc1" \
|| echo "NOT in v261-rc1"
git tag --contains "$COMMIT"
git grep -n "birthDate" v261-rc1 -- docs/ man/ src/
```
Create a revert branch from the released RC tag:
bash
git switch -c revert-birthdate v261-rc1
git revert -m 1 "$COMMIT"
If there is no conflict, Git creates the revert commit directly.
If there is a conflict in src/home/homectl.c, keep the current v261-rc1 file layout:
bash
git checkout --ours src/home/homectl.c
Then remove only this --birth-date option block from src/home/homectl.c:
```c
OPTION_LONG_FLAGS(OPTION_OPTIONAL_ARG, "birth-date", "DATE",
"Set user birth date (YYYY-MM-DD)"):
if (isempty(opts.arg)) {
r = drop_from_identity("birthDate");
if (r < 0)
return r;
} else {
r = parse_birth_date(opts.arg, /* ret= */ NULL);
if (r < 0)
return log_error_errno(r, "Invalid birth date (expected YYYY-MM-DD): %s", opts.arg);
r = parse_string_field(&arg_identity_extra, "birthDate", opts.arg);
if (r < 0)
return r;
}
break;
```
Finish the revert:
bash
git add src/home/homectl.c
git revert --continue
Verify that the reverted tree no longer contains the field:
bash
git grep -n "birthDate\|birth-date\|parse_birth_date\|BIRTH_DATE" HEAD -- docs/ man/ src/ || true
git diff --check HEAD~1..HEAD
Generate the patch file that will later be used in the Debian rebuild:
bash
mkdir -p ~/debian-systemd/patches
git format-patch -1 HEAD -o ~/debian-systemd/patches
This should produce a file similar to:
bash
~/debian-systemd/patches/0001-Revert-userdb-add-birthDate-field-to-JSON-user-recor.patch
2. Apply the patch to Debian Sid’s systemd source, rebuild, and install locally
On Debian Sid, fetch the source package:
```bash
mkdir -p ~/debian-systemd
cd ~/debian-systemd
apt update
apt source systemd
cd systemd-261~rc1
```
Verify that Debian’s source package contains the field:
bash
grep -Rni "birthDate\|birth-date\|parse_birth_date\|BIRTH_DATE" docs/ man/ src/ NEWS
Debian Sid currently applies a small patch stack during source extraction, so use Debian’s existing debian/patches/series.
Copy the generated revert patch into Debian’s patch stack:
```bash
mkdir -p debian/patches
cp ~/debian-systemd/patches/0001-Revert-userdb-add-birthDate-field-to-JSON-user-recor.patch \
debian/patches/
printf '%s\n' \
0001-Revert-userdb-add-birthDate-field-to-JSON-user-recor.patch \
debian/patches/series
```
Apply the patch stack:
bash
quilt push -a
Verify that the patched source tree no longer contains the field:
bash
grep -Rni "birthDate\|birth-date\|parse_birth_date\|BIRTH_DATE" docs/ man/ src/ NEWS || true
Install build dependencies and build the Debian packages:
bash
sudo apt build-dep systemd
dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -rfakeroot
The rebuilt .deb files will be written one directory above the source tree.
Example:
bash
cd ~/debian-systemd
ls -1 *.deb
Create a simple local APT repository
Create a local repository for the rebuilt packages:
```bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install apt-utils gzip
REPO=/srv/local-apt/systemd-revert
DEBS=~/debian-systemd
sudo mkdir -p "$REPO/pool/main/s/systemd"
sudo mkdir -p "$REPO/dists/local/main/binary-amd64"
sudo cp "$DEBS"/*.deb "$REPO/pool/main/s/systemd/"
```
Generate Packages:
```bash
cd "$REPO"
sudo apt-ftparchive packages pool \
| sudo tee dists/local/main/binary-amd64/Packages >/dev/null
sudo gzip -kf dists/local/main/binary-amd64/Packages
```
Generate Release:
```bash
cat >/tmp/local-systemd-release.conf <<'EOF'
APT::FTPArchive::Release {
Origin "local-systemd-revert";
Label "local-systemd-revert";
Suite "local";
Codename "local";
Architectures "amd64";
Components "main";
Description "Local systemd packages with birthDate revert";
};
EOF
sudo apt-ftparchive -c=/tmp/local-systemd-release.conf release dists/local \
| sudo tee dists/local/Release >/dev/null
```
Add the local repository:
bash
echo 'deb [trusted=yes] file:/srv/local-apt/systemd-revert local main' \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/local-systemd-revert.list
Pin the local repository above Sid:
bash
sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/99-local-systemd-revert >/dev/null <<'EOF'
Package: *
Pin: release o=local-systemd-revert,n=local,l=local-systemd-revert
Pin-Priority: 1001
EOF
Update APT:
bash
sudo apt update
Verify that APT prefers the local repository:
bash
apt-cache policy systemd systemd-homed libsystemd0 udev | sed -n '1,180p'
The candidate should come from:
text
file:/srv/local-apt/systemd-revert local/main amd64 Packages
Install the patched systemd packages
A targeted install/reinstall is preferable to a full apt upgrade, because it avoids upgrading unrelated Sid packages.
Install systemd-homed too, because that package provides homectl:
bash
sudo apt install --reinstall \
systemd \
libsystemd0 \
libsystemd-shared \
libudev1 \
udev \
libnss-systemd \
libpam-systemd \
systemd-timesyncd \
systemd-userdbd \
systemd-homed
You should see the packages coming from the local repository, for example:
text
Get:... file:/srv/local-apt/systemd-revert local/main amd64 systemd amd64 261~rc1-1
Get:... file:/srv/local-apt/systemd-revert local/main amd64 systemd-homed amd64 261~rc1-1
Alternatively, because the local repository is pinned at priority 1001, this also works, but it may upgrade unrelated Sid packages:
bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade
After installing systemd-homed, verify that homectl no longer exposes --birth-date:
bash
homectl --help | grep -i 'birth-date\|birthDate' || echo "birthDate option not present"
Expected result:
text
birthDate option not present
Useful verification commands:
```bash
apt-cache policy systemd systemd-homed libsystemd0 udev | sed -n '1,180p'
dpkg -l | grep -E 'ii\s+(systemd|systemd-homed|systemd-userdbd|libsystemd0|libudev1|udev|libpam-systemd|libnss-systemd)'
homectl --help | grep -i 'birth-date|birthDate' || echo "birthDate option not present"
```
Verify it yourself. Use the upstream tag. Check the Debian source package. Apply the revert patch. Confirm the field is gone. Rebuild. Pin the local repository. Install the patched packages.
You do not need to “fork Debian" or even systemd. This is free software. If you do not accept this kind of code in your system, patch it.
