The following post is reminiscent of the January 15, 2018 post.
When negotiating a job offer, it can be useful to know what others are earning. Salaries at state universities are often public, though they can be hard to find. One sometimes confronts dirty looks or open hostility from those who would prefer to keep the information secret.
I knew that the University of California had a salary scale. On one job interview in 2004, I asked the department chair if I could see it. He gave me a startled look that seemed to say that he viewed my question as highly improper. He waited for me to retract my request, but I said nothing and waited.
He went to his computer, printed out a page, folded it in half to hide the data, handed it to me, and said in a conspiratorial whisper, "Don't tell anyone you have this!"
That evening I looked at the page he gave me, and saw that it gave a url. I checked online, and sure enough he had printed out a page from a public website.