I doubt this is widespread here. Companies don't want excess legal/reputational risks, especially professional HR folks are for sure aware of legislation they're operating under.

In countries with more lax approach to privacy, yeah sure it's going to happen.

The problem is that if there's no accountability or clear legislation then nothing stops someone from entering a name into a search engine, also because being fined for doing so would reveal an unprecedented level of surveillance. It probably depends on the context as you write, but I wouldn't be surprised by anything: years ago, probably 20 or so, there was a report of some companies or recruiters using horoscopes to decide if hiring someone was advisable or not:^)

But in this case there is clear legislation and accountability. Not surveillance sure, but trust that everyone follows the law, and plenty of people willing to speak up internally and externally if the law is broken. That's exactly how most laws work after all: no proactive surveillance, but consequences if caught.