Ethics applications ask where research data will be kept, who can see it and what happens to it during analysis. For a long time the answer for analysis software was simple: it was installed on a university computer and the data stayed there. Now many tools run in a web browser, and to a committee "browser based" can sound very like "in the cloud".
The difference matters. Some browser based tools send your data to a company's servers; others read it on your own computer and send nothing. This article explains how to tell which, how to describe a tool like Themescape in an application, and the questions committees tend to ask. It is general guidance, not legal advice, and your institution's ethics office has the final say.
Why the question matters
Participants agree to take part on the basis of what they are told about their data. If a participant information sheet says transcripts will be kept on a password protected university drive, and the analysis then sends those transcripts to an overseas server, the study has done something participants did not agree to. In New Zealand the Privacy Act 2020 and your institution's own policies set further expectations.
So committees want to know, for every tool that touches the data, where the data goes. For software that runs in a browser, the honest answer depends on how it is built.
How Themescape handles research data
Themescape is built so that research data never reaches the company. When you open your coded files, or import a project exported from NVivo, MAXQDA or ATLAS.ti, your browser reads them on your own computer. Your quotes, codes, themes, definitions and notes are not sent to Themescape, and Themescape keeps no copy of your project, on its servers or in your browser. When you save your progress, the files are downloaded to your own computer.
The data pledge puts it in four lines, which are quoted here exactly:
- Transcripts and quotes are read locally and never leave the machine.
- No file submission or permanent storage is required.
- Verbatim quotes are never altered, with a separate refined column for presentation wording.
- The Google Sheets mode is opt in, for non-sensitive data only.
In practice this means your research data stays in whatever storage your ethics approval already describes, such as an encrypted laptop or a university drive. Themescape does not change that.
The one exception: connecting a Google Sheet
There is one way of working in which data does leave your computer, and it is worth naming in an application if you plan to use it. The Google Sheets mode lets you open a coding sheet straight from Google Sheets instead of loading files. For the viewer to read it, the sheet's sharing is set to Anyone with the link, and anyone who obtains the link can open the sheet while it is shared. Your browser reads the sheet directly from Google, once, when you press Connect, and Google handles it under its own privacy policy.
The Google Sheets mode is opt in, for non-sensitive data only. It suits a teaching example, synthetic data or a pilot with non-sensitive material. It is not for participant data, identifiable data or anything your approval requires you to keep private. If your approval covers only local storage, load CSV files and say so.
What Themescape does hold
Committees and IT reviewers sometimes ask what the company holds, as distinct from the research data. For Themescape the answer is account and billing information: your name, email address, organisation and role, your plan and payment status, any team places, and messages you send. The privacy statement sets out where each is kept and which services are involved, and none of it includes your quotes, codes, themes, definitions or notes.
Wording you can adapt
The form templates on this site give wording for the data management section of an ethics application, the participant information sheet and the consent form, with placeholders such as [Project Title] and [Your Institution] to replace. A short paragraph for an application might read:
"Coded data for [Project Title] will be viewed in Themescape, a browser based viewer. Themescape reads the files in the researcher's web browser on [the researcher's encrypted university laptop], and the data is not sent to Themescape or any other service. Transcripts and quotes are read locally and never leave the machine. The Google Sheets mode will not be used."
Adjust the bracketed parts to match your study, and keep the data handling sentences as they are so they stay accurate.
Questions committees often ask
- Is any research data sent to the company? No. Files are read in the browser on the researcher's computer.
- Can the company see the data? No. It never receives it.
- Where are analysis files kept? Wherever the researcher saves them, as described in the approval. Themescape keeps no copy.
- What happens to the data when the study ends? The same as the rest of the study's data, since it never left the researcher's own storage.
- Does the software use AI or analyse the data? No. It displays and refines the coding the researcher has done.
- What about figures and slides? Any figure, slide or screenshot should carry no names or quotes that could identify a participant.
Check with your institution
Every institution has its own forms, policies and people. Your ethics office may want the data handling statement attached to the application, and your IT team may want the one page summary; both are on the Privacy and data page. If a committee asks something the documents do not answer, email support@themescape.co.nz and we will help you find the answer for your application.
Charlotte Price is the founder of Themescape.
