NYU professor Nouriel Roubini interviews Google’s Jared Cohen and Eric Schmidt (from left) during an event Monday in New York. (Credit: Shara Tibken/CNET) NEW YORK–The Internet needs a delete button, Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said Monday.

NYU professor Nouriel Roubini interviews Google’s Jared Cohen and Eric Schmidt (from left) during an event Monday in New York. (Credit: Shara Tibken/CNET) NEW YORK–Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt on Monday tried to dismiss fears about “Big Brother” knowing too much about everyone. Many companies, including Google, have been developing new technology that users literally wear.

Life in authoritarian states is likely to get tougher before it gets better as their citizens gain more access to the Internet, Google’s executive chairman Eric Schmidt said. Speaking at a seminar in Washington, Schmidt said hundreds of millions of people in non-democratic nations will be trading in their basic cellphones for Internet-connected smartphones as prices fall over the next few years.