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> I can accept that some people don't see the information requested as being "about whom" and therefore is not human subjects research. But the fact that people

> I can accept that some people don't see the information requested as being "about whom" and therefore is not human subjects research. But the fact that people who have received this email have panicked indicates that the recipients, at least, felt that the questions were more than merely recording impersonal data about their websites. I guess the distinction is whether you see a website as an organization, even when that 'organization' is as small as a sole proprietorship or DBA, or even a personal site or blog.

mynameisvlad 5y ago
But at the end of the day a "website" -- whether it's a large organization, a small business or a sole proprietor-- is still maintained by people. There might be a process in place if it's a large enough company, it might even get directly sent to the lawyers to deal with. But at the end of the day someone has to look at the email and respond, and in many cases that can cost money. To wave off the whole thing as "we're contacting a website not a person" just shirks all the responsibility of ethically experimenting on people, which is what the study actually does.
- hallarempt 5y ago
  Of course it costs money! Even my own "huh, this is weird, anyway, we don't collect any data, so let's tell them to eff off" cost me time, and therefore money, so, invoice time it is.