The best way to ensure payroll information is kept private is to:

• A. Post payroll information publicly
• B. Limit Employee Access to Payroll Information
• C. Encrypt Payroll Data
• D. Share With Supervisors Only

Answer: (B)

Controlling who can see payroll information is the most effective way to keep it private. Limiting access follows the principle of least privilege: only those whose roles require payroll data can view or handle it. This directly reduces the risk of accidental leaks, internal misuse, or errors, and it helps protect sensitive details like salaries, tax IDs, and bank information. Implementing this approach typically involves assigning access by job function, enforcing strong authentication, and maintaining audit logs to monitor who accesses payroll data.

Posting payroll information publicly would expose highly sensitive details to everyone and is clearly inappropriate. Encryption is important for protecting data in transit and at rest, but it doesn’t by itself prevent internal access; if many employees can decrypt and view the data, privacy can still be compromised. Sharing with supervisors only expands the audience beyond what’s necessary and can create unnecessary risk. Limiting access directly reduces the pool of potential privacy breaches and is the strongest foundational control.