IKEA fined €1m by French court for spying on staff and customers

The French branch of Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores worldwide, was accused of snooping on its workers and some customers over several years. 

A French court has ordered IKEA to pay a €1m fine for spying on its French staff, after the world's biggest furniture retailer was found guilty of improperly gathering and storing data on its employees.

The French branch of Ingka Group, which owns most IKEA stores worldwide, was accused of snooping on its workers and some customers over several years. 

It was accused of breaching employees' privacy by reviewing records of their bank accounts and sometimes using fake employees to write up reports on staff. Worker representatives said the information was used to target union leaders or used to IKEA's advantage in disputes with customers, after the firm trawled data on people's finances and even what cars they drove. It was also found to have paid for access to police files. 

The firm's former chief executive in France, Jean-Louis Baillot, was found guilty in the case and handed a two-year suspended prison sentence. 

The allegations centred on the 2009-2012 period, although prosecutors said the spying tactics began in the early 2000s. In total 15 people faced accusations in the trial. 

Two of the accused were found not guilty of all charges against them, including a police officer, and Stefan Vanoverbeke, who ran IKEA in France from 2010 to 2015 and still has a senior position in the group's retail operations.

The Swedish firm has long denied setting up a widespread espionage system, and was absolved in today's verdict  of systematically violating personal data. 

Reuters