US senators ask Google to explain delay in disclosing vulnerability

FILE PHOTO: A Google sign is seen during the WAIC (World Artificial Intelligence Conference) in Shanghai, China, September 17, 2018. REUTERS/Aly Song/File Photo

Three influential Republican US senators on Oct 11 asked Alphabet Inc's Google unit to explain why it delayed disclosing vulnerabilities with its Google+ social network.

Google said this week it would shut down the consumer version of Google+ and tighten its data sharing policies after revealing that the private profile data of at least 500,000 users may have been exposed to hundreds of external developers.