Sir John Sawers in his former role as U.N. Representative, not in a swimsuit (Courtesy AP Photo/David Karp)

Yesterday, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband confirmed to the press a rather embarrassing fact: The wife of Sir John Sawers, the newly appointed head of Britain’s famed MI6 spy agency, had posted information about her husband and family on Facebook. The Daily Mail broke the story and now reports that MI6 could face an inquiry about the incident. At the time the story broke, Lady Sawers hadn’t set her profile to private, meaning anyone could view the pictures and information. The Facebook account in question has since disappeared.

You should always be careful of the information you put up online. Remember that little details like your birthday, names of family members and addresses might be helpful or entertaining to your friends but could also provide unscrupulous people with enough information to cause mischief (or worse). For most of us, the biggest threat we face is a case of identity theft. For the head of MI6 the consequences could be far more grave. Imagine if an unfriendly nation used the information to target members of Sawers’ family in a hostage situation.

CNN reports that Miliband has said the Facebook account included no compromising information. The photos included pictures of Sawers in a bathing suit, which some reporters appear to gleefully reference as often as possible. I don’t think that’s such a big deal — James Bond has worn swimming trunks in a few movies and I don’t hear anyone complaining. So what if he enjoys swimming?

While I appreciate the need for security and I don’t wish anything to happen to Sawers or his family, I’m not sure the outcry is entirely justified. Before accepting the post at MI6, Sawers held a very high-profile position: He was Britain’s representative at the United Nations in New York City. It’s not like Sawers is an unknown entity who has been kept from the public eye since his birth. I wouldn’t be surprised if much of the information on the Facebook profile — swimming photos being an exception — could be found elsewhere without much trouble. The photos did show Sawers and his family posing with friends and extended family members. Perhaps that’s enough to justify an inquiry.

We’re entering an age in which it seems everyone has some sort of presence on the Web. I imagine we’ll have plenty of other examples of embarrassing or compromising information on personal Web sites for people in important positions in the years to come. Perhaps one day we won’t care any more. But if you’re hoping to hold an important office or job, you might want to think twice about posting that photo of you passed out at that Christmas party.

Learn more about spies and social networking at HowStuffWorks.com:

How Spies Work
How James Bond Works
How Facebook Works