6 ms·

Salary? How could that being public serve the public's interest? As a privacy advocate that does pique my curiosity.

cerved 5y ago
not salary, taxable income, which got most people is pretty much their salary
AndrewDucker 5y ago
It's considered necessary for a just society that if people are going to earn massive salaries that people are aware of it. Salary transparency allows people to negotiate with all the facts.
Retric 5y ago
Information asymmetry distorts markets, and the job market is really important not just for the people involved but overall economic efficiency.
quartz 5y ago
In most cases salary is private more due to social customs and corporate interests than privacy concerns. If EVERYONES salary is public, I could see it serving the public interest in preventing wage disparity and discrimination. Even in the US you can look up the salary of many people (public university employees come to mind). One of the most important moments early in my career was learning the salary of the people above me. It let me evaluate the upside of climbing that ladder for the next 5-10 years and ultimately helped me make a critical decision to leave and take a higher risk role where the upside was greater.
Frondo 5y ago
I would ask the opposite question -- why is that an important number to conceal? (Please no "it's none of your business" replies, that doesn't really answer the question and it's not an interesting direction to go.)
- ghaff 5y ago
  At some point though, not making personal information public does come down to societal norms of what is other people's business. While the cost/benefit tradeoffs may be different, I could argue that making individual health records public probably has some benefits with respect to understanding health and health outcomes at a more granular level than aggregated data. (Which also present issues with de-anonymization anyway.)
- hcrean 5y ago
  There is an "ignorance is bliss" argument and a "if you don't know what is on offer, you can't ask for it" argument. The whole privacy system is geared towards supporting employers and people in the upper echelons of salary.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    And yet, at least in the US, it's probably the people in the highest echelons of salary whose salaries are most public (in addition to public sector employees).
    - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
      Highest echelons of society don't make their money from salaries. But they are interested in manipulating your salary and making its in your interest to hide it
- ftrobro 5y ago
  It puts a target on the back of anyone that earns a lot of money but doesn't live in a high security bunker. Sometimes foreign crminals make a quick tour in Sweden, rob a couple of rich people in their homes and then get out of the country in the same day, with no risk of ever being caught. Public records and GPS navigation make this all too easy. Senior citizens are also targeted by criminals in Sweden, because the age and address of almost all citizens is publicly available. They might be visited by a couple who ask for a glass of water or whatever, and then one of the visitors distract the senior citizen while the other searches the place for jewelry.
kalleboo 5y ago
I don't think it's technically salary but tax information. From which it's easy to reverse-engineer salary (since for most people income==salary) It could be argued that transparency in taxes collected is a positive thing for a society.

not salary, taxable income, which got most people is pretty much their salary

It's considered necessary for a just society that if people are going to earn massive salaries that people are aware of it. Salary transparency allows people to negotiate with all the facts.

Retric 5y ago

Information asymmetry distorts markets, and the job market is really important not just for the people involved but overall economic efficiency.

quartz 5y ago

In most cases salary is private more due to social customs and corporate interests than privacy concerns. If EVERYONES salary is public, I could see it serving the public interest in preventing wage disparity and discrimination. Even in the US you can look up the salary of many people (public university employees come to mind). One of the most important moments early in my career was learning the salary of the people above me. It let me evaluate the upside of climbing that ladder for the next 5-10 years and ultimately helped me make a critical decision to leave and take a higher risk role where the upside was greater.

Frondo 5y ago

I would ask the opposite question -- why is that an important number to conceal? (Please no "it's none of your business" replies, that doesn't really answer the question and it's not an interesting direction to go.)

ghaff 5y ago
At some point though, not making personal information public does come down to societal norms of what is other people's business. While the cost/benefit tradeoffs may be different, I could argue that making individual health records public probably has some benefits with respect to understanding health and health outcomes at a more granular level than aggregated data. (Which also present issues with de-anonymization anyway.)
hcrean 5y ago
There is an "ignorance is bliss" argument and a "if you don't know what is on offer, you can't ask for it" argument. The whole privacy system is geared towards supporting employers and people in the upper echelons of salary.
- ghaff 5y ago
  And yet, at least in the US, it's probably the people in the highest echelons of salary whose salaries are most public (in addition to public sector employees).
  - ClumsyPilot 5y ago
    Highest echelons of society don't make their money from salaries. But they are interested in manipulating your salary and making its in your interest to hide it
ftrobro 5y ago
It puts a target on the back of anyone that earns a lot of money but doesn't live in a high security bunker. Sometimes foreign crminals make a quick tour in Sweden, rob a couple of rich people in their homes and then get out of the country in the same day, with no risk of ever being caught. Public records and GPS navigation make this all too easy. Senior citizens are also targeted by criminals in Sweden, because the age and address of almost all citizens is publicly available. They might be visited by a couple who ask for a glass of water or whatever, and then one of the visitors distract the senior citizen while the other searches the place for jewelry.

kalleboo 5y ago

I don't think it's technically salary but tax information. From which it's easy to reverse-engineer salary (since for most people income==salary) It could be argued that transparency in taxes collected is a positive thing for a society.