

Half a year ago, it looked like a self-hosted solution getting implemented was relatively imminent, but that thread (and maybe others?) was deleted and communication on this matter seems to have gotten more vague in the meantime. In summary, we don’t absolutely need to host experiments locally (anymore), but we were looking forward to all the benefits that this scenario would provide. Fortunately, with the Pavlovia server having moved to France three weeks ago, this worry is now unfounded. I think the long time period of not knowing whether we (in the EU) would be allowed to use Pavlovia after the end of the Brexit transition period (on Dec 31, 2020) also created a visceral sense in me that it would be critically important for us to be able to self-host PsychoPy experiments. We are very used to choosing option (1) in that scenario, and I think I had erroneously applied that model to Pavlovia (and a hypothetical self-hosted “light” version of Pavlovia). The predominant way open-source server software works is that you can choose between (1) just downloading the software and hosting it yourself, and (2) paying for the convenience to have the software hosted by the people who created the software, so you don’t have to deal with all the complexities of running your own web server. That whole thread ( ), however, was deleted at some point, suggesting there may have been a change of mind on this matter, but this was not communicated publicly. So it sounded like enabling users to self-host PsychoPy experiments was not only planned but also on the short-term roadmap. Last summer, there was a post by you or someone on your team stating that you would work on a locally hosted solution in Aug/Sep that year. It also gives participants peace of mind if we can tell them that their data will only be stored on our own servers and not shared with third parties. We self-host all other systems that come into contact with participant data (e.g., survey software, booking software, research database software, etc.), which makes seeking approval for a study smoother and more predictable for our researchers. IRBs and privacy boards seem to (rightfully or wrongfully) consider self-hosting to be the gold standard for collecting and storing participant data.
