Astonishing Case of the Very Public Spy Chief

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Legalbrief | your legal news hub Tuesday 28 September 2021 Astonishing case of the very public spy chief In an action that has astonished the UK media, personal details and photographs of the incoming head of Britain's international spy agency have been posted on Facebook, writes Legalbrief. And in a typically British expression of understatement, the UK's Foreign Office noted foreign service staff should exercise caution on social-networking Web sites. CNN reports that the man in question, John Sawers, is the British ambassador to the UN. His wife posted details about their family, holidays and residence on the social-networking site, British media reported. Her Web site has since been taken down, the reports say. Sawers was appointed last month to be the head of MI6. Unsurprisingly, opposition parties have demanded an inquiry into how the incident occured. The Independent quotes foreign affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, Edward Davey, as saying: 'We would be negligent if there wasn't an internal inquiry into the security implications, not just in relation to MI6 but to Sir John and his family. We need to be reassured that there is nothing we need to worry about.' Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, chairman of the Commons' counter-terrorism sub-committee, added: 'A great deal of taxpayers' money has been spent making sure that he and his family are protected from security compromises. Well, it doesn't seem to be very relevant anymore, does it?' According to a report, in The Times, Sawers is not the first intelligence chief to fall victim to unwelcome publicity. It notes that when Alex Allan, former Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, was announced as the next chairman of the Cabinet Office Joint Intelligence Committee in November 2007, it was discovered that he had a personal Web site on which there were photographs of him on holiday and windsurfing down the River Thames complete with pinstripe suit, bowler hat, briefcase and brolly. Dame Stella Rimington was once photographed shopping near her home in London after she had been appointed Director-General of MI5 in 1991. She was advised to leave her family home for her personal safety and moved to a new address. Full CNN report Full report in The Independent Full report in The Times Meanwhile, major changes are coming to Facebook soon, notes a report in The Washington Post. Some of these, like a totally revamped privacy control page, are both long overdue and very welcome, suggests the paper. But others, like the Transition Tool, seem ripe for disaster. It points out that Facebook clearly wants its users to become more comfortable sharing their content across the Web, because that's what needs to happen if the site is going to take Twitter head-on with real-time search capabilities. Unfortunately that's far easier said than done for the social network, which has for years trumpeted its granular privacy settings as one of its greatest assets. Now, notes the report, those settings are turning into problematic obstacles. Full report in The Washington Post.

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