Ikea paid firm to spy on customers, staff.

• Position: PRIVACY

Swedish furniture giant Ikea allegedly paid private security firms to spy on "complaining" customers and "suspicious" employees at its stores in France, according to France's Canard Enchaine newspaper.

The spying began in 2003, according to the newspaper, and included checking the criminal records and links to political groups for more than people.

The Canard Enchaine said it uncovered e-mails showing that Ikea officials paid 70 [pounds sterling] ($111 U.S.) each for the reports taken from a national French police database. The paper said the e-mails were between the head of Ikea's risk management department, Jean-Francois Paris, and Yann Messian of private investigator Surete Internationale. The exchanges discussed gaining access to the police's controversial database, Stic.

According to a remote file inclusion (RFI) report, Stic has been accused of compiling unreliable files on criminals, victims, and witnesses.

The Canard Enchaine stated: "Questions were asked about more than 200 people, including requests for criminal records, vehicle registration checks, and affiliations with political organisations. IKEA's head of security authorised payments of 80 [pounds sterling] [$107 U.S.] for each check carried out. The information was then used in deciding whether to fire certain staff...