Senators to Facebook: Privacy Changes Suck

It's not just tech geeks freaking out about the new Facebook changes; apparently they're causing hand-wringing in the very halls of Congress. Four Democratic senators—Chuck Schumer, Al Franken, Mark Begich and Michael Bennet—have sent an open letter to Mark Zuckerberg complaining that the changes give users less control over their data, and raising the specter of an FTC investigation.

Specifically, they're peeved that Facebook now insists that many personal profile details be public information, that it's allowed third-party advertisers to store users' data for more than 24 hours, and that it effectively hid the opt-out for its new Instant Personalization service. “We look forward to the FTC examining this issue,” they write, “but in the meantime we believe Facebook can take swift and productive steps to alleviate the concerns of its users.” You can read the whole letter at Politico. (More Facebook changes stories.)