Washington, May 31 (RHC)-- The social networking website Facebook has surpassed governments in terms of posing privacy challenges, says a former director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  Retired General Michael Hayden made the remarks while addressing the Hay Festival in Wales.

When asked whether Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg were to be trusted with people's private information, Hayden said the popular website has raised the alarms on a whole new level.  The spymaster said: "Your habits are all geared to protecting privacy against the government because that was always the traditional threat.  That is no longer the pattern, it is the private sector" we are going through a cultural adjustment."

Hayden, who also directed the National Security Agency (NSA) from 1999 to 2005, said that people like Zuckerberg were going to play an increasingly decisive role in protecting personal information based on the privacy rules of their software.

According to Sophos, a renowned IT security company, Facebook has over a billion active users and a reported 700,000 new members join the social networking website every day.  Sophos has found that nearly 100 percent of the website's users post their e-mail address while between 30-40 percent of the users list data about their family and friends.

The IT security company noted that privacy concerns have forced nearly 50 percent of companies around the world to block employee access to Facebook -- not only because workers waste valuable time on-line chatting on their Facebook page, but because their Facebook connection gives outsiders access to sensative company information.