1. does not disclose that this is a research survey;
2. does not inform the recipient that they can decline to participate without any adverse consequence (as they state in their study FAQ), instead doing entirely the opposite - ending the mail with an assertion (untrue for most recipients) that they have a legal duty to respond;
3. lies about the origin of the email, inventing a fake persona;
4. lies about what the responses will be used for.
Yeah this is the big one for me. Coming from the context of medical research it is shocking to me how many commenters think this is okay. If this happened to be a disguised medical research survey the ethics board would never have let this past. And if they did it would bring down some serious bureaucracy on their heads.
I guess software and law just think they can test whatever they want and get away with it. Who cares if a few people end up emotionally scarred?
5. which caused people harm, in the form of time, stress, and in apparently a fair number of cases, money spent consulting a lawyer in the belief that they were about to be sued.