Comment by realist39827
3 years ago
Yes, it's concerning, but let's be realistic about this. I'm surprised HN readers are so surprised by this! On a scale of Room 641A (https://h1bdata.info/index.php?em=Airbnb&job=&city=&year=202....
Third, there are legitimate reasons why this system exists. If you're applying for a mortgage, how do you expect them to verify your salary? You can submit paystubs, but those can be faked. Same with bank statements. The only way for a bank to verify your salary is to actually call your employer. And if a bank calls your employer to verify your salary, and they have your DoB, SSN, and home address, it's pretty likely your employer is going to tell them anyways. Even if your employer only confirmed / denied (as opposed to providing a number), they could just repeatedly call and binary search it. (This probably wouldn't surprise the employer, since you might be getting quotes from multiple mortgage companies at once.) Given that mortgage companies, banks, and other finserv firms need to verify your income and employment history, it's not entirely unreasonable for a centralized database to exist, and for it to be guarded by what should be secret (SSN, DoB, address).
That said, the problem is that the US is too reliant on SSNs. If you prior on (the US treats SSNs as secret), being able to access salary data with it really isn't ridiculous.
> there are legitimate reasons why this system exists.
Not really.
> If you're applying for a mortgage, how do you expect them to verify your salary? You can submit paystubs, but those can be faked. Same with bank statements.
Faking paystubs and bank statements is called "fraud" and most people are pretty reluctant to commit it.
> And if a bank calls your employer to verify your salary, and they have your DoB, SSN, and home address, it's pretty likely your employer is going to tell them anyways.
I find that hard to believe. The person who answers the phones for payroll would be worried about disclosing too much and getting fired, and legal constantly tells managers to keep their mouths shut to avoid saying something that could get them sued
Also there a way less invasive ways of certifying your salary to banks. All places I have worked in the US I could automatically print a letter saying something like "we certify XXX works here with a base salary of YYY".
Bingo. Your employer will work with you when you need help getting a mortgage. Not some random person who calls and says they work for a mortgage company
> If you're applying for a mortgage, how do you expect them to verify your salary? You can submit paystubs, but those can be faked.
Why not keep this, and punish people who submit fake paystubs for committing fraud? I could also take advantage of my employer by faking other documents and signatures, but I (and most people out there) don't do that because that's illegal. If your potential employees are so untrustworthy that you can't trust them not to defraud you, you have bigger issues as a company anyways.
While salary data is available on h1bdata.info - I never found it showing RSUs or any equity of the like. Whereas this clearly shows how much I am getting from RSUs. It didn't show any equity stake but - holy crap - it was disturbing that my RSUs showed up so obviously. Very easy to figure out how much I was awarded.
Do you have access to the employer side? It's not obvious what they need besides money to view your data.