# Privacy policy
This article explains how to easily create a privacy policy for your app. A privacy policy is required to publish your app to the app stores. The policy that you will create via the steps in this article will have to be hosted on either your own, your company's, or your client's website, depending on the person or entity for which the app is intended.
You can use an online privacy policy generator to create the privacy policy. There are many privacy policy tools available when searching the web, but for this article we'll be using this generator:
### What is a Privacy Policy?
Your privacy statement should reflect the values of your business. Think like a page on our site that's just as important. The information should also be accurate in order to avoid potential problems down the road. Your mobile apps may collect personal information. Please note that you shouldn't copy other businesses' data protection policies or practices. The one you copied is probably wrong.
You may require the inclusion of certain provisions of the data collection policy depending on the relevant legislation in your state or where you operate. Privacy laws have been implemented across countries across the world.
### Create a privacy policy
1. Open this URL: [privacy](https://support.appmachine.com/a/solutions/articles/%20https%3A//app-privacy-policy-generator.firebaseapp.com/)
2. The page will open up displaying the following:
1. Fill **App Name** with the app store title of your app.
2. Fill **Contact Information** with the email address that app users can send questions to regarding the app's privacy practices.
3. Fill **Personally Identifiable Information**, with any information that is requested by the app, whether required or optional, that can be directly linked to the app user's identity. Enter this information comma separated. For example: First name, Last name, Address, Email address, Phone number, (etc..). Don't use any fake contact details or fake geographic location.\
\
\* Please note that if you have enabled User Authentication for your app, that the users' first name, last name, and email address are requested during the account registration process. In that case you will have to enter at least these three values in the Personally Identifiable Information field.
4. Set the **App Type** to either Free or Commercial, depending on whether your app is published in the app stores as a free or paid app.
5. Set the **Mobile OS** option to Android & iOS.
6. Set the **Policy Effective Date** to either the current date, or a date in the past if your app is already live in the app stores.
7. Set the **Owner Type** to either Individual or Company, depending on whom the app is created for. After selecting the owner type a new field will appear in which you'll either have to enter the Developer Name or the Company Name depending on the owner type you've selected.
8. Use the **Next** arrow below the image to continue.
9. Select the **Third Party Services** that are included in your app. Select this option if you want to use Google Analytics for Firebase in your app. \
The other third party services mentioned in this list are not part of the standard AppMachine modules. You might need to select these if you've connected to any other services via for example a web service block.
10. Use the **Next** arrow to continue.
12\. Preview the Privacy Policy of your app
13\. Copy the text into a document of your own to host online, or use the HTML or Markdown button to copy the text in a format suitable to paste on a page of your website.
14\. Open the AppMachine **Publish** dashboard
15\. Open the **Settings** page in the left side nav
16\. Paste the URL of the webpage in the **Privacy policy field** and click **Save.**
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