> both are probably similarly identifiable OkCupid's data has to be identifiable because of the nature of their service. Reddit accounts don't need real data.

> both are probably similarly identifiable OkCupid's data has to be identifiable because of the nature of their service. Reddit accounts don't need real data. I doubt they are similarly identifiable in the common case. However, this isn't very important. Regardless of how personally identifiable the data is, it is extremely rude to use it without specific consent. > What's the significant difference? They data was provided for dating purposes, not research. Context and intent matter. Maybe someone doesn't want to give data to that research, for any reason. Or maybe they do and would be willing to provide more data to the research if asked. > prohibit research institutions The same would apply to anybody using the data for a different purpose. The data was provided under a certain context, for a purpose. > pulling data if they can in a way that doesn't violate any usage agreements or user expectation. Why isn't asking permission the first step? Just take the data because nobody has legally prohibited that specific situation? That's how bad regulation happens. Just because something is technically legal doesn't mean it's a good idea. When enough people get pissed off about bad behavior, they tend to pass laws or regulations (which may or may not actually fix the problem). TL;DR - "This is why we can't have nice things."