Senators at Google: Why did not you reveal the vulnerability of Google+ earlier?

Three US senators have asked Google to provide answers about the recent disclosure of a security breach on its Google+ social network that resulted in its closure. Google did not manifest until after the the Wall Street newspaper broke the story on October 8th.

Until now, a class action brought by the federal government has been filed following this episode.

In a letter sent Thursday to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Senator John Thune (RS.D.), Senator Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) And Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Asked a certain number of questions from the technology giant.

Among other things, lawmakers are looking for answers to some fundamental questions that society is not prepared to answer publicly.

As they wrote:

Please describe in detail when and how Google became aware of this vulnerability and what actions it has taken to address it.

Why did Google choose not to disclose this vulnerability, including to the Committee or the public, until several months after its discovery?

Are there similar incidents that have not been publicly disclosed?

…

Please provide a copy of the internal Google memo cited in the WSJ article.

Senators asked Google to respond by 5 pm on October 30.

Google did not immediately respond to Ars's comment request.