How Automatic Location Tracking Works

Borderly uses your iPhone's built-in location services to determine which state, province, or country you are in each day. This happens automatically in the background — you do not need to open the app.

The app uses several energy-efficient methods to track your location:

• Significant location changes — The system notifies Borderly when you move a meaningful distance (for example, when you cross a state border).
• Periodic check-ins — The app periodically confirms your location to make sure no days are missed.
• Visit detection — When your iPhone detects you have arrived at or left a location, Borderly is notified.

From these signals, Borderly determines which jurisdiction you are in and creates a presence record for that day.

Each presence record stores the jurisdiction (state, province, or country) you are in, along with the GPS coordinates used to determine it. Coordinates are stored securely and encrypted at rest, and are included in the cryptographic hash that forms your tamper-evident chain. If you share your records — for example, through a verification token — recipients with the appropriate access level may be able to see coordinate data alongside jurisdiction information.

All data is encrypted in transit and at rest. You can review exactly what is stored at any time in your dashboard.

• An iPhone running iOS 18 or later.
• Location Services set to "Always Allow" for Borderly.
• Background App Refresh enabled (this is on by default).