Mixi suspends social search service

Japan's leading social networking site, mixi, has suspended its new search service in the face of growing concerns about violations of privacy.

Mixi, which boasts around 22 million subscribers in Japan, halted the service on Thursday due to a number of complaints by users.

The search service, launched on Tuesday, allows users to find out whether someone else is also a mixi user by merely entering the person's e-mail address.

But the operator of the site was flooded with complaints that third parties are abusing the service by entering whatever e-mail addresses are available on the Internet.

The operator says it will resume the service after modifying it to prevent abuse.

Similar services have already been introduced by major social networking sites overseas.