Facebook Fracas Hits California Race

The dust-up over Facebook's privacy practices is becoming a political headache for the company's former privacy chief in his campaign for California attorney general.

The social-networking service, which has nearly 500 million users, has come under criticism lately over privacy issues, including a glitch this month that gave users unintended access to their friends' private instant messages, and a new feature that lets the company share information about which websites users visit. Such privacy concerns have prompted push-back from some Facebook users, and privacy advocates and U.S. lawmakers have urged the Federal Trade Commission to examine the closely held firm's practices. Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg says the social network is planning new privacy controls. Chris Kelly's opponents in the June 8 Democratic primary had generally avoided the Facebook privacy issue. But in a volley last week, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris made clear she intended to make use of the fracas surrounding Kelly's former employer.