Google Privacy Engineering Lead Dr. Alma Whitten told the Committee that the company was "conducting investigations" into why its Street View cars gathered communications from home WiFi networks.

In a response to a question by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Whitten admitted that the company had make a mistake but could not say much more amidst ongoing investigations. Klobuchar, apparently disturbed by the revelation of Google’s practices, had contacted Google CEO Eric Schmidt about the Wi-Spying activities.

Whitten’s statements come on the heels of a Consumer Watchdog national opinion poll released today that shows almost two-thirds of the country as having at least a "great deal" of privacy concerns as a result of Google’s Wi-Spy scandal. Consumer Watchdog has been pressuring Congressmen to hold a hearing on Google’s Wi-Spying activities and its sharing of information with U.S. spy agencies like the NSA, an action that nearly 70% of the country supports.