You would be surprised at how many people are completely and utterly boring. How many have so few assets, vanilla history, no embarrassing health issues, and believe all drugs are for wastrels.

Do not count on being able to embarrass the enemy :) :(

"Everybody lies". Even if the majority of people's history and proclivities are considered "vanilla", those individuals themselves don't want that information being made public, would likely feel some sense of shame if the information got out, and want to avoid any situation where they would be judged or teased. Even if that content is considered relatively tame by a tolerant society.

Lot of people look boring in public but really aren't in private.

Also, pretty much everyone is guilty of, at the very very least, numerous traffic violations.

> Lot of people look boring in public but really aren't in private.

Of course.

I am referring to the people who are boring in private, clearly.

Even the most boring person has information they want to keep secret. Banking activity is the obvious one.

There's a huge difference between secret because it's embarrassing and secret because it's a pain to deal with fraud. Many of them would have no problem turning all of that banking info over to "the authorities" :)

i can definitely think of a few things that can come from purchase history that could end careers, relationships or families:

1) Having homophobic parents and buying anything supporting a “non-traditional lifestyle” (like books from a particular vendor)

2) Having liberal parents and buying say a firearm

3) An unfaithful spouse supporting another relationship (remember Ashley Madison?)

4) Being a well known promoter of a particular brand when buying from another for personal use

>Do not count on being able to embarrass the enemy

Why are you making folks that disagree with you "the enemy?"

Just because some doesn't agree with you about a particular issue doesn't mean they are your enemy.

They just disagree with you on a particular issue. Assuming they live in the same culture, it's likely that they agree with you on more stuff than they disagree.

> medical records

particularly mental health.

Actually it’s not that hard for companies to get salary information about new hires. Equifax has a tool called the Work Number that lots of employers subscribe to. Each report lists every company an employee worked for, total salary, and every paycheck dollar value they received. You can request your report for free.

So yeah, now employees looking for a salary boost can’t even lie about their current salary anymore.

https://theworknumber.com/

I believe you have a right to "freeze" your work number profile so that they cannot share your past employment and salary information, at least if you live in California. They warn you that other jobs may not be able to verify your employment but I have never had an issue since asking for and being granted a hold on selling my information.

On a side note, never let past salaries dictate your salary negotiation. Always stand your ground, and sell your pricetag. Your past low salary or lack of successful negotiation, does not warrant them a discount. Negotiators always try to talk down your value, even when you're already paid high. You need to own your pricetag.

That is in the US, though.

Maybe in the UK too, but no in the EU,I think Sweden or Norway have total transparency on tax returns etc, though.

Or just say some percentage is a bonus or equity. And especially, ask them for what you want anyway.

I have guessed too low a couple times before, so now I simply go for current rate *1.5 and see if it sticks.

I've never had anyone ask me about my current salary in an interview, isn't that kind of illegal? Or surely at least considered poor form...

doesn't include equity though which is usually a large chunk of comp

The vast majority of people do not get equity as part of their compensation. So, yes, there are cases when this information is inaccurate or incomplete, but for most people, this type of data can artificially cap your earning ability.