Many people who responded to my thread repeated again and again that this information needed to be anonymous. Several even asked to redact details as vague as their city or job title, just in case they were identifiable to someone, somewhere. Often, people worried they could be fired for sharing how much they get paid.

I think this is illegal.

(by which I mean, firing someone for talking about their salary)

I also know this is very common.

You touch on an incredibly important point. For a marketplace to work, the marketplace must be transparent. Everyone in the marketplace must know what they’re buying, or selling, and how much it’s going to cost. Without those two basic functions, markets break.

I’m a big market advocate. I think most (but admittedly not all) things could be set up to self-control via market mechanics. But when the market is obscured, it can’t be trusted.

You’re doing good work here, not just with regard to the sticky wicket of gender/race equality, but also for the rights of employees in general. Nobody can participate in a marketplace if they can’t ascertain their own value.