Ikea has been fined €1.5 million for illegal video surveillance, several media outlets reported on Tuesday. At its store at Vienna’s Westbahnhof, cameras allegedly filmed passersby outside the store and the checkout area—including customers’ PIN entries—without authorization. The Federal Administrative Court (BVwG) confirmed the original ruling by the Data Protection Authority, according to APA. However, Ikea plans to appeal, claiming that no personal data was processed.
The BVwG largely followed the findings of the Data Protection Authority, the reports said. The case originated from administrative proceedings over data protection violations in spring 2022. Investigations uncovered 30 breaches of data protection regulations. Ikea was fined €1.5 million and ordered to pay €150,000 in procedural costs.
The court upheld 28 of the 30 alleged violations. According to the ruling, one camera recorded recognizable customers’ PIN entries and stored the footage for 72 hours. Six other cameras monitored areas for which there was no legal basis. The fields of view of seven cameras were deemed too wide and unnecessary for their stated purposes, such as monitoring snow removal.
Additionally, in certain areas, the digital pixelation of uninvolved persons was missing. In court, Ikea blamed a former employee of a security company for this issue. However, according to the ruling, the man was not technically capable of performing this task. Ikea also failed to restore the masking afterward.
Ikea Announces Appeal
Ikea announced that it would appeal. “We maintain that our electronic security system does not process any personal data and that recorded individuals or their data entries were not identifiable; therefore, no data protection violation could have occurred,” said Christina Strauss, head of public relations for Ikea Austria, according to the German tech portal heise.de, which first reported the verdict. “Even if that were the case, the penalty is, in our view, clearly excessive, especially since no one was harmed.”
She added that Ikea cooperates fully with authorities and that compliance with data protection law is “a top priority” for the Swedish furniture company. Ikea stated that video surveillance of entrances and checkout areas at Vienna Westbahnhof is necessary to prevent theft and vandalism.
Unlike Ikea, the Federal Administrative Court concluded that between March 25 and May 25, 2022, at least several tens of thousands of identifiable people were filmed. The reasoning indicates that Ikea’s cameras captured a heavily frequented public area: Vienna’s Westbahnhof attracts large numbers of people daily, including at its side entrances. The surveillance also recorded a tram stop and the exit of a subway station. According to heise.de and other outlets including ORF Vienna, Die Presse, and futurezone.at, Ikea activated the surveillance system before receiving the required data protection assessment.
The court found no material damage to those affected, while non-material harm was considered minor. In particular, no misuse of filmed PINs was detected. Mitigating factors included Ikea’s cooperation, clean record, remedying of the violations, deletion of the footage, and the absence of financial gain.
