I recall reading a similar article regarding Citizen Lab where the researchers were also baited through interviews for new positions or capital/sponsorship in their relevant studies.
Edit, found the previous HN article (this is the same article but on a different site, the NY Times article is no longer accessible):
The article this discussion is about starts with a mention of Citizen Lab. It's true that the first sentence doesn't directly mention Citizen Lab, but it's tied together starting with the 8th paragraph.
Edit, found the previous HN article (this is the same article but on a different site, the NY Times article is no longer accessible):
https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/citizen-lab-toronto-under...
HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19006477