Brussels, 29/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, French MEP Françoise Castex (S&D) reacted angrily to revelations in the Canard Enchaîné newspaper alleging that the French subsidiary of the Swedish company IKEA entered into an agreement with the security company Sûreté Internationale, to obtain private information regarding its employees and clients. It is believed that the company may have been able to access police records regarding its employees and a number of its clients.
In a priority written question to Viviane Reding, the Socialist MEP calls on the “European executive to take action” and to bring in “stricter controls on private security companies”. If the allegations are correct, the espionage practices of the Swedish giant are “extremely serious”, says Françoise Castex. And “in addition to getting hold of police files, these methods deliberately violate the principle of consent laid down in directive 95/46 on personal data, which is currently being revised”, she continued. Reding declined to comment on Wednesday, but it is believed that the issue will first will be raised with the competent national authorities, in this case France's CNIL. (SP/transl.fl)