The California Office of Privacy Protection will likely release guidelines in July to advise technology companies about data collection, data sharing and written privacy policies, Joanne McNabb, chief of the office, said Wednesday at an app developers' privacy summit.

Mobile apps can access the personal data stored on smartphones, including a user's physical location and personal contacts, spurring discomfort among some users and privacy advocates.

Earlier this year, California a deal with the major mobile platform vendors that would require app makers to make privacy policies readily available to users. The guidelines from the Office of Privacy Protection should make it easier for companies to comply with state law.

California is home to many of the biggest mobile and Internet players, so its regulations could affect privacy practices worldwide.

The Office of Privacy Protection has no regulatory power, but McNabb suggested that well-designed best practices could rein in some of the current excesses in data collection, which several people at the privacy conference likened to the .