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French company denies IKEA spying link

A French security company, linked to allegations that Swedish furniture giant IKEA illegally spied on staff and customers, has denied involvement, blaming a renegade former employee.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation following a complaint from a trade union and a newspaper report which published what it said were email exchanges between the head of the company’s risk management department and Surete International about getting access to the police force files.

IKEA says it’ll examine claims the firm paid for illegal access to secret French police files in order to gain information about its employees, clients and even people who came near its property.

The former management of Surete International, which was wound up in 2011, has denied responsibility for everything attributed to it.