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

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.