A British newspaper reported the wife of the new chief of the British MI6 spy agency may have blown his cover by posting pictures of her husband, family, and their friends.

Sir John Sawers is expected to become the new chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, sometime this fall, though already has had to endure an embarrassing and possibly dangerous situation.

The information, which was posted by his wife Shelley on Facebook only, was quickly removed once British authorities realized she posted images and details about their home, vacation home, and where they work.  Along with the four million people in the “London” network, there were no restrictions on her account, which opened it up to more than 200 million active Facebook users across the world.

"There were fears that the hugely embarrassing blunder could have compromised the safety of Sir John's family and friends," according to the Mail, which was the first British newspaper to break the news.  The Mail published the article both online and in its print edition, with front page articles and several photos also included in the article.

Many British citizens want the MI6 to face a government inquiry about the data being posted online, which would hopefully prevent a similar incident from taking place again in the future.  MI6 is now being heavily criticized for not helping Sir John and Lady Sawers better prepare for his appointment as leader of all of Britain's spy services.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who also was criticized when the article was published on Sunday, is working alongside Sir John to launch a damage control campaign.  It's possible this lapse in judgment may lead to a social networking ban among high-ranking officials of MI6 and other government agencies -- including their wife and immediate family -- one British government official said, though it's unknown when that could be written into law.