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CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

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Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#91

Post by N00bN00b »

kstrauser wrote: post #38
ajkjk wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why you reacted so strongly. I feel like it's not a big deal to receive a message like that; what am I missing?

I'm just running a hobby website. I'm not at all used to receiving letters that bring up legal questions, then give me a time frame to reply as per a specific law. To my non-lawyer reading, that looks like someone's doing their homework to figure out how to drag me into court. Judging from a lot of the responses I've gotten from other recipients, I'm far from the only one.

I don't know buddy... Might be worth it to invest some time into anxiety/stress management. Meditation, keep an eye on your sleep, exercise, maybe go talk to someone.

You're not supposed to have anxiety attacks over fairly lame sounding emails. Not to mention, it's just a matter of time before you get another (spam/scam) email like this.

I get these quite frequently? I don't know how often, but definitely at least one a month. Either it's about my taxes not filed or my student debt, or some loan I didn't pay.

Not worth having anxiety attacks over, minor or otherwise.

Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#92

Post by kf6nux »

kstrauser wrote: post #75
neworbit wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would anyone be interested in organizing a class action lawsuit against Ross Teixeira and Princeton?

I think the plaintiffs would be people who spent money reacting to the emails, and I suspect Princeton may be quick to take care of those expenses to avoid further action. I personally didn’t incur any monetary costs, just a lot of unnecessary stress.

Intentional infliction if emotion distress is a cause of action for a civil suit. You don't have to have lost money.

Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#93

Post by ajkjk »

ineedasername wrote: post #59
ajkjk wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why you reacted so strongly. I feel like it's not a big deal to receive a message like that; what am I missing?

Because receiving a letter citing chapter & verse of the legal code is generally never the precursor to a nice friendly chat. The actual-not-fake-researcher (instead of fictional people) could have sent a nice friendly request saying, "I'm a PhD candidate working on public policy in the tech sector. Could you please answer the following questions regarding your process of CCPA compliance, if applicable"

Sure, of course not, but a near panic attack still seems a bit... out of proportion.

Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#94

Post by wglb »

vessenes wrote: post #77
Paul-E wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've met Ross during my time at Princeton and he is a really genuine person, he is not trying to ruin anyone's life. This incident is the result of an uncharacteristic blind spot in empathy: a mistake. I also have experience with the Princeton IRB on similar topics. The reality is that Princeton's IRB, and IRBs in general, are not equipped to deal with this sort of online research. IRBs were created as a reaction to…

Quick meta-comment; this is useful and informative information about the original link - please don’t downvote because you disagree with the point of view. If you disagree, please add a comment and make HN a great place for discourse!

Downvotes are ok to use to indicate and it has been so forever. Pg and others have supported this view

Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#96

Post by wglb »

N00bN00b wrote: post #91
kstrauser wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just running a hobby website. I'm not at all used to receiving letters that bring up legal questions, then give me a time frame to reply as per a specific law. To my non-lawyer reading, that looks like someone's doing their homework to figure out how to drag me into court. Judging from a lot of the responses I've gotten from other recipients, I'm far from the only one.

I don't know buddy... Might be worth it to invest some time into anxiety/stress management. Meditation, keep an eye on your sleep, exercise, maybe go talk to someone. You're not supposed to have anxiety attacks over fairly lame sounding emails. Not to mention, it's just a matter of time before you get another (spam/scam) email like this. I get these quite frequently? I don't know how often, but definitely at least on…

For those who revive what appears to be a legal threat seems to be worthy of anxiety

Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#98

Post by earleybird »

endisneigh wrote: post #84
ajkjk wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why you reacted so strongly. I feel like it's not a big deal to receive a message like that; what am I missing?

I see that you're being downvoted, but for what it's worth I agree with you. I read the message and if I received it I wouldn't have thought much of it. Honestly I would've just thought it was spam. It's a shame though if the OP did have mental duress as a result of it, though.

It's entirely possible that you and OP do not share the same 'what do I stand to lose' frame of reference.

Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#99

Post by kiklion »

zippergz wrote: post #81
kstrauser wrote: post #6

I'm the person who wrote that blog post. I got an email from a fake person in France who asked several questions about my small social media site's CCPA compliance, then ended the letter with: > I look forward to your reply without undue delay and at most within 45 days of this email, as required by Section 1798.130 of the California Civil Code. I thought I was about to be sued by someone who was the equivalent of a…

I love how they say they are "contacting websites" as if websites are sentient beings that can respond to questions, rather than operations run by human beings who will receive and respond to the communication.

Websites aren’t sentient beings, but they are more similar to commercial entities than people. Even if not intentional, websites gain traffic and can display ads. They have Google ranking. They have an audience and can get paid to share information with their audience.

Would there be an issue if they sent out letters to businesses asking how they comply with a California regulation?

Re: CCPA Scam – Human subject research study conducted by Princeton University

#100

Post by jimmar »

It is interesting in the study web page (https://privacystudy.cs.princeton.edu/) that they consistently mention contacting "websites" instead of "people." As if a website is some autonomous thing that can communicate with a researcher.

I wouldn't be sleeping well if I were involved in this study. There is no way an IRB could determine that this is not human subjects research if you're emailing people and asking them anything.

If I want to ask random people about the weather and publish the results in a journal, that qualifies as human subjects research and IRB protocols must be followed. Emailing people asking about privacy policies is definitely human subjects research. Either they misrepresented the study in their IRB application, or the IRB didn't do due diligence reviewing the application.

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