Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon were among the tech companies that have agreed to ask developers to include privacy policies in their mobile apps so users will know about them before they download the apps.

Hewlett-Packard and Research In Motion were the other two companies that took part in the agreement, led by California State Attorney General Kamala Harris, according to CNET.

Harris said the six companies agreed to redesign their app stores -- including iTunes and Android Marketplace -- to display the privacy policies, according to The Washington Post, which added that the move "comes after the discovery that online social journal Path was scooping up the contact lists of its iPhone app users."