Facebook releases 500 pages of damage control in response to Senators’ questions

The Senate Commerce and Judiciary committees rleased nearly 500 pages of information Facebook provided concerning more than 2,000 questions from lawmakers on topics including its policies on user data, privacy and security. Yet much of the information that Facebook included was not new and the social network sidestepped providing detailed answers, in a move that may embolden some of its critics.

In dozens of responses about how Facebook operates and how it deals with its online content, the company referred members of Congress back to its terms of service and community standards. In 224 instances, Facebook simply asked lawmakers to look back at previously answered questions. In many of the company’s answers, it sought to assure lawmakers that it was actively looking for other companies that might have harvested people’s personal data. Facebook thanked members of Congress for the questions and said it “did our best to review and answer them in the available timeframe.”