A computer you never see
A server is a computer in a data centre, switched on all the time and connected to the internet, answering requests from phones and other computers. When you search for a place, your phone asks a server, the server looks it up, and the answer comes back in a fraction of a second.
Why apps need them
- Some jobs are too big for a phone. The map of a whole country, or live traffic gathered from millions of cars.
- Some things have to be shared. When one driver adds a missing place, every other driver should find it.
- Some secrets can’t live on a phone. Paid services hand out keys. Anything inside an app can be dug out by someone determined, so the keys stay on a server.
What Bound’s servers do
Bound runs one small server of its own, called the gateway. It sits between the app and every other service, and:
- asks TomTom for routes and live traffic, and searches places for you;
- checks every request, and limits how often each phone can ask, so nobody can run up the bill;
- keeps no record of where you are. Its logs note that a request happened, never where from or what was searched.
Your saved places, recent searches and trip diary don’t go to a server at all. They stay on your phone.
Why its location matters
A server is a real machine, in a real building, in a real country. What is stored on it falls under that country’s law, and the law of the company that runs it. That is why Bound’s rule is that anything storing or processing your data runs in Malaysia, or Singapore at most. Why the country your data lives in matters.
What servers cost
Servers are rented by the month, and the bill grows as more people use them. Map tiles, routes and traffic are each paid for on every use. See what Bound costs to run.