[Air-L] a new wrinkle in internet research ethics

[Charles M. Ess]

... don't mess with code!

<https://thehackernews.com/2021/04/minnesota-university-apologizes-for.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheHackersNews+%28The+Hackers+News+-+Cyber+Security+Blog%29&_m=3n.009a.2470.ka0ao0d8cz.1kao>

What is particularly interesting is that the IRB "had reviewed the study 
and determined that it was not human research, only to backtrack, adding 
'throughout the study, we honestly did not think this is human research, 
so we did not apply for an IRB approval in the beginning. We apologize 
for the raised concerns.'"

And:
"Our community does not appreciate being experimented on, and being 
'tested' by submitting known patches that are (sic) either do nothing on 
purpose or introduce bugs on purpose," Linux kernel maintainer Greg 
Kroah-Hartman said in one of the exchanges last week.

Or, to quote a computer scientist engaged in exploring vulnerabilities 
in network engineering via Big Data approaches, thinking that no IRB 
review or approval was needed - "it's only data" - only to discover that 
there were direct, sometimes very negative consequences for human beings 
as a result: "Oh sh*t, it's people".

Happy ethical reflexivity, folkens.

best,
- charles ess
-- 
Professor Emeritus
University of Oslo
<http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>

Secretary, IFIP Working Group 9.8, Gender, Diversity, and ICT
<http://ifiptc9.org/9-8/>

Fellow, Siebold-Collegiums Institute for Advanced Studies, 
Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, Germany

3rd edition of Digital Media Ethics now out:
<http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509533428>