A French court on Tuesday fined Ikea € 1 million ($ 1.2 million) for spying on its French employees after the world’s largest furniture retailer was found guilty of improperly collecting and storing data on its employees.
The French branch of the Ingka Group, which owns most of the Ikea stores worldwide, has been accused of snooping on its employees and some customers for several years.
The flatpack furniture group, realizing that there were some improper practices, has been accused of invading employees’ privacy by checking their bank account records and sometimes using fake employees to generate reports on employees.
Worker representatives said the information was in some cases used to target union leaders or to the benefit of Ikea in disputes with customers after the company sifted through data on people’s finances and even the cars they drove would have. It was also found that she paid for access to police files.
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The public prosecutor had demanded a fine of 2 million euros. Lawyers from the French trade union CGT and several people requesting compensation said the final amount was not high but welcomed the result.
“This is where the symbolism counts,” said Solene Debarre, an attorney with the CGT.
The company said it was reviewing the court ruling to see if further action was needed after taking steps to stamp out surveillance tactics.
“Ikea Retail France has strongly condemned the practices, apologized and implemented a major action plan to prevent this from happening,” said the Ingka group.
Ikea employs around 10,000 people in France, the third largest market after Germany and the USA, and is experimenting with new formats there, including a store opened in 2019 in the heart of Paris.
It’s best known for its huge self-service stores outside of the city, but plenty of shoppers have gone online, especially during the pandemic lockdowns when the demand for office furniture, grocery jars, and cooking products soared.
The Ingka Group’s operating profit declined in the year to the end of August 2020 due to store closures during the coronavirus crisis, although a recovery is forecast.
Former head of the company in France, Jean-Louis Baillot, was found guilty of the case and given a two-year suspended prison sentence. Judges fined him 50,000 euros for storing personal data.
The allegations centered on the 2009-2012 period, although prosecutors said the espionage tactic began in the early 2000s.
A total of 15 people were charged in the process.
Two of the accused were found not guilty, including a police officer, and Stefan Vanoverbeke, who headed Ikea in France from 2010 to 2015 and still holds a senior position in the group’s retail business.
Others have been acquitted on a number of charges, such as systematic disclosure of confidential information, but have been found guilty of others, including illicitly obtaining personal information.
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