Ethics of SL Research

I was thinking about the reading for this week - I know, my post is a little late in the game, but keeping up with life is tough these days. The ethics of chatlogging go me thinking about internet ethics in general, not just SL. One of the things that's been drilled into me is that there is no expectation of privacy in any location where other people exist, virtual or otherwise. To me, it would be the same thing as writting down what someone said on thier cell phon while walking in front of me. I wouldn't do it simply because I don't really care who's doing who or who got drunk, or what color the new shirt from the Gap is, but it's my understanding that anything said publically is fair game for research purposes. No, you can't record them and play them for others to see, but is a transcript of chat so different from eavesdropping. I suppose the difference is in the fact that it will be used for research which does require informed consent.
So what's your feelings on this? Is there an expectation of privacy in SL. Even in Anthro we often use data and change the name of the individual for quotation purposes, especially in a public/group setting where expectation of privacy is diminished. Do you feel there should be an expectation of privacy? How do you think this plays into the change in behavior between the human and the avatar?

Well, there are my rambling thoughts, any thoughts on them?