Nobody does it better, as the song goes, but in this instance nobody could have done it any worse. The days of spies being secretive, aloof and hidden in the shadows are long gone, particularly in the case of John Sawers, soon to be chief of MI6. Sawers full details, including his address and where he works, was posted on Facebook by his wife.
Has she never seen spy movies? You shouldn’t even use your mobile phone in case you get tracked by satellite. No need for that level of espionage though, as Shelley Sawers posted everything on her very public Facebook profile, complete with pictures of her family and friends.
James Bond would never made such a simplistic mistake.
Liberal Democrat Vince Cable has called into question Sawers’ ability to run MI6:
There is a potential serious risk here. Gordon Brown should immediately commission an internal inquiry.
I’m not sure you need an internal inquiry and waste tax-payer’s money to find out how Shelley Sawers logged into Facebook, uploaded some photos and failed to set the privacy settings on her profile. Any 11 year old could show her that, and it wouldn’t cost the UK millions in wasted money.
Ken Clarke, always one to wade in on an argument, dismissed the claims that national security had been breached by Facebook:
I suspect the enemies of this country do not wholly rely on the Mail on Sunday and Facebook for their information.
This illustrates the power of social networking websites such as Facebook, and that you need to use them safely in your online marketing strategies.
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