Army gives social networking the boot

Indian Army has asked its men not to post their employment information on social networking sites, fearing leak of sensitive security information.

It has also warned that failure to comply with its order could invite disciplinary action, including imprisonment. In a recent circular, the Army instructed its personnel to immediately remove such information (service related) they may have posted on sites like Orkut and Facebook so that they could avoid questions on their service from net users.

It is a matter of national security. The personnel may be befriended on-line by enemies to extract information such as his place of posting, unit and rank that he may give out inadvertently, army sources said.

The circular, issued from time to time to all units, has been re-issued recently to create awareness on information security among net-savvy personnel, they said.

Though there was no specific official data of how many of the 1.1-million-strong army personnel may be hooked to such networking sites, the number could be high, the sources said.

Moreover, leaving such information on-line went against service rules and could invite disciplinary action, including imprisonment, for violating 'good order and discipline', the sources added.