This was in 2013, pre-GDPR but in 1998 DPA territory. Yes, I do feel it was probably a DPA violation even back then.
In Ireland next of kin is purely for cases where the person has been incapacitated/hurt and someone needs to be told. Nothing to do with dispersal of benefits etc. There's a separate process for all that.
Sorry, yes, I forgot to include informing them of a workplace injury. And I assume GDPR wasn't in force there and then, just thinking of it as a hypothetical.
The 1998 DPA was still pretty strict. I have no doubt the DPA was violated when they called my wife.
I blame the manager who came from a sales background. His response to every problem was to "call someone", rather than have the team work out what was wrong.
