I guess Google actually is listening to the growing buzz concerning its privacy practices. Yesterday afternoon the company published a short 4.5 minute video explaining some of the basics of data collection at Google. The Official Google Blog says this video will be the first in a series of video posts on privacy issues.

In the video you see Maile Ohye, a senior support engineer with Google, explain the basics of IP collection, cookies, and server logs. Her whiteboard approach (complete with cute pictures) and simple, plain language makes the video very easy for just about anyone to understand.

I am very excited to see Google do this. My parents could understand that video - and I think that’s big. If Google really wants to address the growing privacy concerns surrounding its business, it needs to do more than send letters to government agencies and watchdog groups.

Google needs to reach out to the masses of users. And this video does that. It’s short, sweet, and easy to understand.

Since Google has suggested there will be other videos, I’ll keep my feelings on what was excluded to a minimum. The Official Google Blog talks about videos dealing with information collected for a Google Account and the differences between searches when you’re logged in.

In addition, I’d like to see what Google has to say about these topics:

• How is the information Google collects from various services aggregated together and how does Google use this information?
• How does Personalized Search use the information Google has collected to customize your search experience?
• How does Google target advertising using the information it has collected?
• How is all of the information Google collects stored, secured, and who has access to what information?
• How do some popular Google services use collected information to enhance the user experience? (Since this is Google’s reasoning for saving a lot of information)

As I’ve said on more than one occasion, I generally trust Google with my information (at least more so than most other online companies). But that doesn’t mean I’m not concerned about my privacy - especially since I use (and convince my friends and family to use) so many Google services.

The more Google does to address these concerns, the higher that trust rating goes (see, Google… you’re not the only ones calculating ‘trust’ levels… haha).