Data and trust

Your data stays where it is

When someone opens the link, Groundwork reads your data from its source. That might be a Dropbox or OneDrive folder, a public GitHub repository, a WFS server, a QGIS Server project or a STAC catalogue. We don't keep a copy on a server of our own. So when you change the data at its source, people see the change the next time they open the link.

To see how each source loads, read Connecting a data source, or Open standards on the Features page.

Where your data goes

Where a file request goes depends on the source:

• Dropbox. File requests go through a relay that we run on Microsoft Azure. Your files pass straight through it. It writes nothing to a database and keeps nothing once a transfer finishes, and we keep no log of the requests. You sign in to Dropbox from your browser, and Groundwork keeps the sign-in on your device.
• OneDrive. Your files never pass through us. Your browser signs in to Microsoft and fetches every file from Microsoft directly.
• A public GitHub repository. Your browser reads it directly from GitHub. There's no sign-in, because GitHub doesn't need one to read a public repository.
• A public ArcGIS Online map. Your browser reads it directly from ArcGIS Online and from the servers that publish its layers.

A few tools send details to other companies:

• Address search, travel distances and routes go through our servers to Geoapify, a geocoding and routing service. Groundwork sends Geoapify the search text, the point at the centre of the map, and the coordinates at each end of a distance or route.
• Street View. Our server sends Google the position of the feature, to find a view near it. Your browser then loads that view directly from Google.
• Visit counts. This website and the Groundwork app count visits with GoatCounter, which is sent the page being visited, the page that linked to it (for the app, only the name of the site that linked) and the screen width, and, as any server a browser contacts does, sees the visitor's IP address and browser. The app is counted as one page called "app", or as "app/shared" where it was opened from a share link. GoatCounter is also told which demo someone picks, and which kind of data source a new map is created from, such as Dropbox or a WFS server. It learns nothing else about your map or its data. The assistant on this website also tells GoatCounter when someone opens it or sends a question, and never what the question says. The "Enquire about Teams" buttons on this website are counted too.

    flowchart TD
  B["Your browser<br/>keeps your sign-in"]
  B -->|"Dropbox files, with your token if signed in"| S["Our servers on<br/>Microsoft Azure"]
  S -->|"Pass files through, keep nothing"| D["Dropbox"]
  B -->|"Searches and routes"| S
  S --> G["Geoapify"]
  B -->|"Street View position"| S
  S --> GO["Google"]
  GO -->|"The view, directly"| B
  B -->|"Sign-in and files, directly"| M["OneDrive"]
  B -->|"Directly, no sign-in"| P["Public GitHub and<br/>ArcGIS Online"]
  

Who can open a map

A Groundwork link doesn't contain your data. It points to where your data is kept, so anyone who can open that source can open the map. A map from a private Dropbox folder or a OneDrive folder opens only for the people who already have access to it. You have no Groundwork permissions to manage, and nothing to update when someone joins or leaves.

Each map's Sharing setting decides what the people who open a link to it can do:

• View only. Everyone who can open the link can view the map, but not edit it.
• Sign in to edit. People sign in before the map opens, and then they get the editing tools.
• Demo. Everyone gets the editing tools, and Groundwork saves nothing back to your data.

A link to a map from a private Dropbox folder always asks for a Dropbox sign-in, also from a demo map.

A person who opens your link and shares the map again passes on what your link gave them, and never more.

There's no Groundwork account to create. People sign in with their own Dropbox or Microsoft account.

Several people editing one layer

Your whole team can update one layer in your Dropbox folder. Groundwork merges their saves feature by feature. If a save clashes with a colleague's, Groundwork refuses it, so nobody's work is written over.

To save, each editor needs the folder shared with them privately, with edit access. They also need a link to a map whose Sharing is Sign in to edit. For the technical detail, read Conflict detection and resolution.

For IT and security teams

Vectoria builds and runs Groundwork. When someone signs in, Groundwork asks for these permissions:

• Microsoft. The delegated permissions Files.Read.All and User.Read. Groundwork can read only the files that the signed-in person can already open, and it can't change them.
• Dropbox. Permission to read and save the signed-in person's files, and to read and create share links.

Your Microsoft 365 administrator decides whether staff can give Groundwork these permissions themselves, or only after an administrator approves it.

Groundwork keeps each Dropbox and Microsoft sign-in in the browser's local storage, on the person's device. When our relay sends a Dropbox request for someone who's signed in, it receives their access token, uses it for that request and stores nothing. Microsoft sign-ins never reach our servers.

Send security questions to us through Vectoria's website.

Hosting in your region

Some organisations need Groundwork hosted in a particular region, because of data residency or sovereignty rules. Talk to us about hosting Groundwork in the region you need. Enquire about Teams →