Wife exposes chief spy's personal life on Facebook

It is always a case of some considerable concern when a lady reveals too much on Facebook. The site has standards, after all.

The lady in question this time is Lady Shelley Sawers, the wife of Sir John Sawers, the new head of British spy agency MI6.

According to reports in the Mail and numerous other media outlets, the fair lady may not have been quite aware that Facebook can be seen by a rather large number of people if you don't specify that you want to keep your information vaguely private.

Lady Sawers saw fit to wander onto the site and reveal where their London apartment is located and where their children are. This might not appear to be the wisest course of social action if your children happen to be the offspring of the head of an international spying network.

Lady Sawers even posted 19 happy pictures of the family's last vacation.

(Credit: CC Anonymous9000/Flickr)

These pictures seemed to have spurred the her enthusiasm for uploading, as, the following day, she furnished 26 more, including shots of Sir John in his swimming attire. She apparently displayed several pictures of Sir John hanging with some actors, even one thespian who performed in that apogee of popular English culture, the TV series "Footballers' Wives."

According to the reports, Lady Sawers' Facebook account had no privacy protection. All those in the highly open "London" network could espy the head spy in his swimming cozzie.

Moreover, Sir John, who by tradition will be code-named "C," received notes of congratulations on his wife's Facebook page. One note, for example: "Congrats on the new job, already dubbed Sir Uncle "C" by nephews in the know!"

When the Mail contacted the British Foreign Office to alert them to the socially networked revelations, everything was sharpishly effaced without a trace.

Now, I know that there will be those who will feel critical of Lady Sawers' remarkable trust in the Web's world-wideness.

However, I feel her actions show a considerable faith in her husband's skills in weeding out nefarious bodies from the dark camouflage of life. And her social openness is surely sending a clear message to those who do Britain ill that the fine old country fears nothing and no one.