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In a press conference today in San Francisco, California’s Attorney General, Kamala Harris, announced an agreement by Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Hewlett Packard, and Research in Motion to improve privacy protections on mobile apps.

“The companies will require developers to include privacy policies in their apps so that users will be informed about the data that apps will access, use, and share before they download the apps, California Attorney General Kamal Harris said today in a news conference. The news follows disclosure that some mobile apps were using address book data without user notification or permission.

Basically, California’s Online Privacy Protection Act, one of the strongest consumer privacy laws in the country, will now be applied to mobile apps, which currently have no privacy protections, Harris said. The law requires commercial Web sites or online services that collect personally identifiable information about consumers to conspicuously post a privacy policy that details the kinds of information gathered, how the information may be shared with other parties and describe how a consumer can review and make changes to their stored data.”

These six companies, which are the major mobile platforms for apps, will need to redesign their app stores and marketplaces so that either the text of the privacy policy for each mobile app is visible on the store or there is a link to it on a Web site. In addition, each company will be required to monitor developers to make sure that they are following the guidelines. The agreement also has “teeth” and GLOBAL “reach.”

“Developers and platform providers that do not comply with the law can be prosecuted under California’s Unfair Competition Law and/or False Advertising Law, which has penalties of up to $500,000 per use of the app in violation, Harris said. “If developers do not follow the privacy policies we will sue,” she added.

Because of the global nature of the Internet, the law will apply to every mobile app provided through the six firms’ app stores even though it is a state law.”

Harris first contacted the six technology firms in August of 2011 about the matter, after realizing that there was some confusion in the industry about whether as to whether the California Online Privacy Protection Act applies to mobile apps. The California Attorney General’s Office will meet with the mobile applications platforms in six months to assess how they are doing. The CNET article details some of the history of the issue, including the announcement last week by Apple that iOS applications that collect user contacts data without their permission were violating its guidelines and that Apple would release a software fix to prohibit such behavior. Also last week, the Federal Trade Commission released a report that mobile apps for kids lack privacy policies, and Twitter admitted that it uploads and stores the contact data of many app users for 18 months without expressed permission. In May of 2011, U.S. Senator Al Franken (D, Minnesota) asked Google and Apple to require that all mobile apps int their stores have privacy policies.

However, the executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Marc Rotenberg, was unimpressed:

“Privacy policies do not protect privacy,” he said in an e-mail to CNET. “That is well known. Better approach is to limit data collection to that which is actually necessary for the app’s functionality.”

In a follow-up story today, respected tech writer and Internet safety advocate, Larry Magid, talked with Kamala Harris by phone in a 10-minute podcast about the announcement.

-Bill at

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