Privacy
BURST is network software. Its wallet, dashboard and protocol node communicate with different endpoints. This page describes the current source defaults. Configuration and older release versions may differ.
Desktop wallet and dashboard
The desktop applications default to a node at http://127.0.0.1:7077. A user
can choose another node in the application's connection settings. Requests to a
remote node disclose the connecting IP address and the requested information,
such as an account address, transaction, balance, verification state or
governance query. The remote operator controls that node's logs and retention.
Use a node operator you trust. Plain HTTP to a remote endpoint does not encrypt
the connection.
The wallet creates and imports signing keys locally. Ordinary signed transaction submissions contain signatures and public transaction data, rather than the wallet's private seed. Recovery phrases and exported backup files grant access to the wallet; sharing one is a separate disclosure of that access. The wallet stores local profile, signing-device and offline-payment state. Backup files are saved to the location chosen by the user.
The dashboard's telemetry view reads the configured node's operational state. Its local log and configuration features access files on the computer running the dashboard. They do not read files from a remote node merely because its RPC URL was selected.
Group services and browser requests
Loading a group directory contacts its host but does not query every listed membership endpoint. Evaluating a payment's group policy can disclose original creator addresses to the selected services and to registered groups reached by an explicitly enabled trust path. The responses are membership judgments, not private or anonymous proofs. Services can retain request logs even though the client does not reuse membership responses for later evaluations.
The group client rejects redirects. The shared browser transport requests CORS, omits credentials and uses no-store cache mode. These request settings do not hide the connecting IP address, prevent server logging or encrypt a plain HTTP connection. Browser failures can also reflect CORS or redirect rejection, so the wallet does not treat every failed fetch as permission to use an outage fallback. See group service contracts.
Desktop shell navigation restrictions apply to pages loaded in the application window. They are separate from the configured RPC URL and group endpoints; an allowed application page can still make its configured network requests.
Protocol node
Running a node enables protocol communication. Connected peers can observe its network address, handshake and node information, and protocol messages. Signed blocks, account addresses, payment information and governance actions that enter the ledger are replicated to other nodes. They should not be treated as private or as information that can be erased from every peer by deleting a local copy.
The current node also uses infrastructure services:
- Clock-offset synchronization contacts
pool.ntp.orgover UDP at startup and periodically. The current implementation does not expose a switch for this auxiliary NTP request. - Authenticated time sources default to Cloudflare (
time.cloudflare.com), Netnod (nts.netnod.se), SIDN (ntppool1.time.nl) and Canonical (1.ntp.ubuntu.com). Operators can configure independent NTS sources. - The default public-randomness relay is
https://api.drand.sh. Operators can configure validated drand relay URLs. - Peer discovery and reachout exchange network information. UPnP is enabled by
default and can request port mappings from a local router;
--disable-upnpdisables that behavior. It does not disable time synchronization.
These endpoints and the DNS services used to resolve them can observe the connecting network address and request metadata. Their operators apply their own privacy and retention practices. The project does not control their logs. Consult the NTP Pool, Cloudflare, Netnod, SIDN, Canonical, and drand for their service information and policies.
RPC binds to localhost by default. WebSocket, metrics and faucet features are optional and disabled by default in the node configuration. Exposing a service on a non-local address changes who can reach it. Faucet/test conveniences do not make test funds valuable or qualify a public network for production use.
Local data and removal
Node ledgers and logs remain in the configured data directory. Wallet profiles, backup files and application settings are separate from the application binary. Uninstalling an executable does not imply that these files are deleted, and it does not delete ledger copies held by peers. Back up recovery material before removing a wallet profile; do not include secrets in public bug reports.