Video Q&A with Google on privacy, Do Not Track Registry

Alma Whitten, Google's lead engineer for security and privacy, talked about a Do Not Track Registry being considered at the Federal Trade Commission. While a fan of the Do Not Call List to prevent unwanted marketing calls, Whitten said a challenge to apply the same idea for Internet user tracking would be how to enforce violations and capture all the players who track information behind the scenes.

"Part of the challenge of tracking is that it can be a behind-the-scenes thing," Whitten said.

"You know when you've been called, you don't know when you've been tracked."

When asked if Google would support a limit on data points collected on users, Whitten said regulators need to think about how user data is used not only for behavioral advertising. Search and other applications use data from users to serve up better results and services, for example.

Our interview comes amid greater interest by lawmakers and regulators in forming laws that would prevent companies from misusing data, making users more aware of how their data is being collected and used. Check out my q&a with University of Pennsylvania professor Joseph Turow Thursday on how efforts so far by companies fall short tin protecting consumers and how reputations are being built and hurt by the deluge of information on the Internet.