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MI6 Facebook | 07/08/2009 9:35 am

Wife of Britain's Incoming Spy Chief Blows His Cover With Facebook Page

Talk about a lapse in judgment! Wife posts photos, family information on Facebook for all to see as hubby readies to take on top-secret job.
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
© Shutterstock

Some sharing is simply too much sharing when it comes to who sees what on the Internet. In this case, the wife of Britain’s incoming MI6 intelligence agency may have shared a little too much about her family on her Facebook page.

Sir John Sawers was in a bit of hot water after his wife Shelley posted information about the couple’s London apartment, their three kids, friends and where they go on vacation. She even posted photos of her hubby on the beach wearing swimming shorts, and photos of him at family gatherings. There were even comments from relatives joking they would soon be calling Sawers "Uncle C." "C" is what the MI6 chief is commonly called. Mrs. Sawers reportedly didn’t activate the privacy settings that would only let a select group of approved Facebook friends see the photos. Instead, up to 4 million people on Facebook’s "London" network could get a glimpse of the spymaster; there are roughly 200 million Facebook users worldwide. Sawers, currently the UK ambassador to the United Nations in New York, is set to take over as chief of the Secret Intelligence Service in November, putting him in charge of all of Britain’s spying operations abroad. The Telegraph reports that there were calls from MPs for an inquiry into the lapse and questions over how the information was not picked up during the extensive security vetting process before Sawers’ appointment.

"Normally, I would welcome greater openness in government for officials or politicians but this type of exposure verges on the reckless," Edward Davy, the Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesman, told The Mail

The Mail says there are now fears that the blunder may have compromised the safety of Sawers’s family and friends. Mrs. Sawers’s postings also exposed the couple’s friendships with senior diplomats and well-known actors, and revealed that her husband’s brother-in-law is an associate of controversial right-wing, Holocaust-denying historian David Irving. Professor Anthony Glees, director of Buckingham University Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies, told The Daily Mail the Sawers family would almost certainly need to be re-housed and the children might require extra protection.

"It is a most distressing and unfortunate security lapse that will take a great deal of money to put right," he said.

47 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

C jay

That’s for sure, Rachel. A friend of mine, a recently retired teacher, teaches CS for her community school district to adults - and I’ve had to "clean" her computer from not knowing what to do, much less what not to do. It amazes me.

By C jay on 07/08/2009 9:02 pm
Former Wife Of A Spy

C Hardy + Murphy Mac - you are SPOT on. As the former wife of a spy, I did the same thing… a few years back. What most dont undertand (he was snatched a few years AFTER we were married) is that the agencies tell you WHO you can be friends with internal to the agency and out, what LIES to tell, WHERE you can go, they choose your vacation spots, expect you to register all friends with them, and on and and on.

I never once got a security briefing!

Basically, the feds control every aspect of your life and unless you’re a Stepford Wife, IT SUCKS. I outted him, he’s still in. I’ve got the kids and our happines without him far exceeds any we could have had with big brother controlling every aspect of life.

It was not the best way to go about it, I admit and she also already knows. When you’ve talked, asked, begged, threatened, cried, yelled and no one is listening - sometimes a desperate measure happens.

By Former Wife Of A Spy on 07/08/2009 11:27 am
Judy K.
If your husband goes into a profession that will demand most of his time and his loyalty, you have to either stand by this decision or leave.  To put him in jeopardy because your life sucks and you are not happy, can compromise what he has to do for the greater good.  I am glad you left.  You obviously couldnt handle it and you didnt think about the consequences because you were unhappy. Sometimes it isnt about you.  There is an old saying, if you cant stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.  You could have done that without outting him.
By Judy K. on 07/08/2009 12:17 pm
Lucinda Herbert
I concur with you Judy.  Not only could a self-absorbed wife put him in jeopardy, she could put the lives of a lot of other people who have so much as shared a sandwich or played tennis with him in danger.  That is the way I felt about those who exposed Valerie Plaine — they not only destroyed her career, it is not a stretch to imagine those with whom she had contact overseas being tossed into a dungeon and having their fingernails pulled off.  If you are married to an intelligence officer and are unhappy with him/her, leave, but have enough respect for the one you once loved enough to marry and perhaps had children with to keep the secrets.
By Lucinda Herbert on 07/08/2009 9:55 pm
Judy K.
Lucinda, self=absorbed is the best description.  Loyalty, and respect go a long way too.  And one cant dismiss keeping ones mouth shut.  (Sure wish my apostrophe key isnt broken).
By Judy K. on 07/08/2009 11:01 pm
Lucinda Herbert
There are plenty of highly intelligent and capable women, who do a very good job — many of them consider themselves to be unpaid employees and full partners of their husbands (much like Mrs. Obama) — they are assets to their spouses and most certainly are not Stepford wives.  I grant you it can be a very lonely life, especially if your spouse rises through the ranks, because like military wives, you would not confide in someone who is on a lower rung in the hierarchy — so the circle becomes smaller and smaller.  Not all women are capable of it — and that’s fine, but it is inexcusable to expose someone — especially one’s spouse and the father/mother of your children.  The only option is to leave the marriage in a dignified manner.
By Lucinda Herbert on 07/09/2009 11:07 am
Maggie W
I can see that she may have wanted to stick the knife in his back and twist it, but she also mentioned their three kids and where they live.  The lady does not have all oars in the water.  
By Maggie W on 07/08/2009 11:50 am
T. BYNUM
She knew what she was doing, for whatever reason she had.  Very poor judgement on her part.
By T. BYNUM on 07/08/2009 12:17 pm
Dee L
Sheesh! She should have checked with her kids first — Most 7 year olds have more ‘Net sense than she does.
By Dee L on 07/08/2009 2:59 pm
C jay
Not so quick - I just saw a highly intelligent H.S. grads photo online and it shocked me that would be a voluntary action on this studen’t part, but it was there, in full color. STUPIDITY doesn’t help intellect.
By C jay on 07/08/2009 9:05 pm
Lucinda Herbert
We are not talking about an adolescent here — we are talking about  a grown woman who traveled at the highest levels of the diplomatic world.
By Lucinda Herbert on 07/08/2009 9:57 pm
C jay

Oh, really?

What, praytel, Lucinda, is your developmental age?

 

By C jay on 07/09/2009 8:27 am
Lucinda Herbert

Not being able to hear your voice, I’m going to reply by taking the high road and not assuming that your question is being posed in a sarcastic and contemptuous tone. While I have made plenty of mistakes along the way, it’s highly unlikely I would have found myself in this predicament because, frankly, I too spent a great deal of time in that world and know too well what is expected of a spouse at that level (it’s not something that is left to one’s imagination by the government) — and there is no doubt that, given her husband’s rank and position, she should have been more sensitive to what is appropriate.

I suspect she now either feels very bad and embarrassed about it all or, as I mentioned in another post, is passive-aggressive and was hoping to sabotage his appointment — and if the latter is the case, the self-absorption is inexcusable — if it was a life she didn’t want, leaving the marriage in a quiet and dignified manner would have been a better choice.

By Lucinda Herbert on 07/09/2009 10:53 am
C jay

Gracious no, LH - not at all. I was merely pointing out that all of us, at times, are not our developmental selves.

At the same time, I cannot judge her … I once attempted to create such a "thing" online, and nearly missed a "box" myself. That being said, when I read the EULAs on those sites, like even those of the latest one, Twitter - I would not Agree to any of it. I refuse to give up everything I do for a corporation.

By C jay on 07/09/2009 4:19 pm
Mommy Dearest
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
By Mommy Dearest on 07/08/2009 6:35 pm