Google+ shut down speeds up, a second privacy bug affected 52.5 million users

**Google** said on 10 December it would shut down its **Google+** social media service in April, four months ahead of schedule, after finding a software flaw for the second time this year that allowed partner apps to access its users’ private data. However, Google said in a blog post that it found no evidence that any other apps had accessed the data, such as name, email, gender and age, using the latest bug. It affected 52.5 million Google+ accounts, including those of some business customers, for six days after it was introduced last month, Google said. [caption id=“attachment_5707041” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] The brand logo of Alphabet Inc’s Google is seen outside its office in Beijing. Image: Reuters[/caption] The disclosure comes a day before Chief Executive **Sundar Pichai** is set to **testify** before the House Judiciary Committee of the US Congress about Google’s data collection practices. Some US lawmakers from both major political parties have called for new privacy rules to better control Google, **Facebook** and other large technology companies. In October, the company said it would shut down the consumer version Google+ in August 2019 because it would be too challenging to maintain the unpopular service. At the time, it said profile data from up to 500,000 users might have been exposed to partner apps by a bug that was present for more than two years. Apps that pull data from Google+ to personalize their own services with user authorization will lose access in 90 days, the company said. Developing Google+ for business customers would remain a focus, it added.