Senator asked Google to explain why the revealing of the Google+ vulnerability was postponed
On October 12th, according to Reuters media reports, three influential Republican senators in the US Senate on Thursday suggested that Google should explain why the Google+ social network vulnerability was postponed. This week, Google suddenly announced the closure of the consumer version of Google+ and tightened its data sharing policy, as the network’s vulnerabilities exposed at least 500,000 users’ private data to hundreds of external developers.
John Thun, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and two other senators, Jerry Moran and Roger Wick, sent a letter asking Google to explain the reasons for delaying the disclosure. The letter said: “Google must be more forthcoming with the public and lawmakers if the company is to maintain or regain the trust of the users of its services.” Google did not immediately comment. The letter asks if any government agencies such as the FTC have previously disclosed vulnerabilities and whether there are “similar incidents which have not been publicly disclosed?”.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai agreed last month to testify in the House of Representatives in November this year. Thun said that the Senate also asked Pichay to prove. On Wednesday, these senators wrote to the FTC asking for an investigation into Google+. Three senators said they were “especially disappointed” that Google’s chief privacy officer, Kate Enright, did not disclose the issue. They asked Google to submit a memo. Failure to disclose the issue early may “immediately lead to regulatory interest,” and “almost certain” Pachai must go to Congress to testify.
