[wtallis]

> An example of something that's not human subjects research would be emailing people who have websites and asking about their privacy policy.

No, that's an example of human subjects research that may be exempt from the regulations due to specific reasons, such as by only interacting with subjects through surveys and interviews (while adhering to further restrictions, that this research probably runs afoul of since it's not anonymous).

> For example, if a researcher calls the director of a shelter for battered women and asks her for the average length of stay of the women who use the shelter, that inquiry would not meet the definition of research with human subjects because the information requested is not 'about' the director.

What a terrible example. They've only demonstrated that the director does not qualify as a human subject, while ignoring the question of whether the women staying at the shelter would qualify as human subjects!