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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

#11

Post by simple_phrases »

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…

Here's to hoping you're awarded damages for pain and suffering, or at least get a nice settlement.

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

#12

Post by nickff »

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 agree that you were wronged by these so-called ‘researchers’, but it’s also tragic that our legal systems are so bad that everyone fears them. The legal system should be a low-stress, reliable, and predictable way to avoid or reduce conflict, instead of a weapon of terror.

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

#13

Post by reactspa »

> reply without undue delay and at most within 45 days of this email, as required by Section 1798.130 of the California Civil Code

So I looked this up and it really exists.

I wonder if an account holder of a Facebook or Google account can use this law to get actual customer service.

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

#14

Post by kstrauser »

nickff wrote: post #12
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 agree that you were wronged by these so-called ‘researchers’, but it’s also tragic that our legal systems are so bad that everyone fears them. The legal system should be a low-stress, reliable, and predictable way to avoid or reduce conflict, instead of a weapon of terror.

That's a fair point. The text of the CCPA is very clear that it doesn't apply to my hobby website (see https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa for a nice FAQ), but I wasn't thrilled about the idea of having to explain that to a jury.

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

#15

Post by kstrauser »

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #10
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…

You did not lawyer up, but some other recipient might have had. Is there a ground for a lawsuit here for... well.. fraud? After all, resources were spent; surely, there was some stress.. Yeah, I agree with you.

I'm not a lawyer, clearly, but I'd say so. Some people are replying to him on Twitter saying that they've spent money here and asking who to send the invoice to.

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

#16

Post by kstrauser »

simple_phrases wrote: post #11
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…

Here's to hoping you're awarded damages for pain and suffering, or at least get a nice settlement.

If there's a settlement, I hope it's in the form of a nice bottle of scotch, and a letter from Princeton apologizing and swearing not to do it again. I'm not out money; I'm out peace of mind.

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

#17

Post by kstrauser »

reactspa wrote: post #13

> reply without undue delay and at most within 45 days of this email, as required by Section 1798.130 of the California Civil Code So I looked this up and it really exists. I wonder if an account holder of a Facebook or Google account can use this law to get actual customer service.

Almost certainly. The law seems pretty clear that they'd have to completely delete all information about if you ask them to.

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

#19

Post by hpoe »

kstrauser wrote: post #18

This is Teixeira's Twitter claiming that the study has been very well received by its unknowing participants: https://twitter.com/RossTeixeira/status/1471249557883432967

Well I hope the bill for legal services is as well received by Teixeira as he claims the unknowing participants are receiving his "research"

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

#20

Post by User23 »

Serious question: why should academic institutions be held to a higher standard than commercial ones? Google and Facebook, to just name two, routinely perform human subject research without informed consent as a matter of course. That's what A/B testing is. Ethically speaking the fine print in the ToS obviously isn't actually informed consent, even if the law says it is.

I don't see why being a for-profit company should somehow lower the ethical bar.

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