Apple, Google, Microsoft, and others are asking developers to inform users about data usage policies before they download apps.

California Attorney General Kamal Harris to announce agreement with tech firms on privacy policy for mobile apps.

(Credit: California Attorney General's office)

California's Office of the Attorney General has gotten agreements from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Hewlett-Packard, and Research In Motion to improve privacy protections on mobile apps.

Under the agreement, the companies will ask developers to include privacy policies in their apps so that users will be informed about the data that apps will access and what will be done with the data before they download the apps, a spokesman for the attorney general's office told CNET.

Basically, California's Online Privacy Act will now be applied to mobile apps, which currently have no privacy protections, he said.

More details will be announced at a news conference Attorney General Kamala Harris has scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PT in San Francisco.

More to come...