IKEA has said it is "sincerely sorry" after an internal investigation found that employees were filmed without their knowledge in the toilets at a distribution centre.
Employees of the Swedish retail giant raised concerns about their privacy after discovering CCTV cameras in communal toilet areas at a distribution centre in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. An investigation was subsequently launched in September and was conducted by IKEA alongside third-party experts.
IKEA admitted that cameras were installed in communal areas in both men's and women's bathrooms to catch drug use. Following the conclusion of the investigation, IKEA said that it has passed its findings on to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the government body that regulates data privacy, Cambridgeshire Live reports.
Read more: Boris Johnson backs calls for P&O chief executive to stand down
The investigation confirmed that cameras were installed in the ceiling voids above and around 10 toilets at the distribution centre in the Kingston Park industrial site on Fletton Avenue, Peterborough, in November 2015. The cameras remained operational until July 24, 2017, IKEA says, and were removed soon after their discovery at which point they were no longer active.
The cameras did not film the bathroom stalls, the investigation found, and IKEA insists that they were only intended to capture "irregular activity in the ceiling voids" following "serious concerns about the use of drugs on site" after false urine samples were submitted to the company. But two cameras recorded communal areas for a short period in 2017, one in a men's bathroom and one in a women's bathroom, "as a result of ceiling tiles becoming dislodged".
IKEA has said that it is "sincerely sorry" that employees were filmed without their knowledge in the bathrooms at the site in Peterborough. The furniture giant added that they have revised their camera policies since 2015 and have done so again in the wake of the revelations.
A spokesperson said: "In November 2015, cameras were installed in the ceiling voids above, and corridors outside, 10 bathroom facilities across our Peterborough Distribution Centre. While the intention at the time was to ensure the health and safety of co-workers, we understand the fact that colleagues were filmed unknowingly in these circumstances will have caused real concern; and for this we are sincerely sorry.
"Their installation followed serious concerns about the use of drugs onsite, which, owing to the nature of work carried out at the site, could have very serious consequences for the safety of our co-workers. The cameras placed within the voids were positioned only to record irregular activity in the ceiling voids. They were not intended to, and did not, record footage in the toilet cubicles themselves. However, as a result of ceiling tiles becoming dislodged, two cameras inadvertently recorded footage of the communal areas of two bathrooms for a period of time in 2017. The footage was not viewed at the time and was only recovered as part of these investigations.
"While our policies for the use of cameras have been updated since 2015, following this incident we have carefully reviewed and revised our policies once again to set out very strict controls for their use at any of our sites."
Footage in which employees were captured was reviewed by a third-party investigation team, IKEA says, with only female investigators viewing what was recorded in the women's bathroom and only male investigators viewing that which was recorded in the men's. Their findings are now with the ICO.
