Re:Riot Games is violating California employment law
by ivraatiems on Saturday June 11, 2016 @12:28PM
(#11884037)
The premise "anything that's not illegal should be acceptable in scientific research" is flawed. Research has to be verifiable to be valid, and therefore must be held to a higher standard (both ethically and technically) than casual study.
But more importantly: There was no IRB here. Zed is arguing that this action is illegal and unethical in an employment context, not a research context. There's a world of difference between "take this $5 and play this game for me" and "take this $5 and play this game for me and while you do I'll rifle through your phone without telling you. It's okay, because I'm paying you." That latter example is closer to what's happening here. The fact that Riot is the holder of the data doesn't make their use of the data ethical or legal.
But more importantly: There was no IRB here. Zed is arguing that this action is illegal and unethical in an employment context, not a research context. There's a world of difference between "take this $5 and play this game for me" and "take this $5 and play this game for me and while you do I'll rifle through your phone without telling you. It's okay, because I'm paying you." That latter example is closer to what's happening here. The fact that Riot is the holder of the data doesn't make their use of the data ethical or legal.