Comment by matheusmoreira

Hacking on software is one thing. Running experiments on people is something completely different.

In order to do this ethically, all that's needed is respect towards our fellow human beings. This means informing them about the nature of the research, the benefits of the collected data, the risks involved for test subjects as well as asking for their consent and permission to be researched on. Once researchers demonstrate this respect, they're likely to find that a surprising number of people will allow them to perform their research.

We all hate it when big tech tracks our every move and draws all kinds of profitable conclusions based on that data at our expense. We hate it so much we deploy active countermeasures against it. It's fundamentally the same issue.