Simply because the data was gathered in a way not unlike most apps, doesn't make it a non-story. In fact, the lack of informed consent and the very misleading statements to Congress make it a huge story.
User data is a commodity, and is worth far more than money. Considering how easily manipulated large portions of the Facebook community can be (e.g. Facebook mood studies, election-year propaganda, etc.), giving access like this to large tech companies - third parties - absolutely needs to be well regulated and come with the informed consent of it's user base.
Not to mention that the policies around turning this data over to other parties -- namely law enforcement -- is different between most of these companies.
The objection is not non-facebook code accessing facebook data. The objection is that, once again, powerful information is being traded and used as leverage to drive profit, with the intent of the buyer or receiver largely unclear, and the impact yet to be seen.