| Best practices - Confidential map data

Introduction

In this article, we will talk about methods you can use to keep your data secure and private.

Secure option for accessing maps

To make sure a map can't be publicly viewed, you can select the Secure option when saving the map.

The Secure option requires future users to type-in the password to view the map. There are 3 exceptions:

If the creator of the secure map is logged into their account.
If the user is invited to view the map via the Manage Users feature OR the Team web app.
See section: Limiting access to map passwords

You can test whether the map is secure by copying the Share Link URL into your browser’s private/incognito window.

Since the private/incognito browser doesn't consider you logged into Example.com, you can check whether other users will be asked for the password.

In most browsers, you can open, then configure a private/incognito window from the "Settings" menu. To learn more, perform a Google search. For example, you could find these articles:

Limiting access to map passwords

The more people who have access to map data, the more likely there will be a security breach.

The best way to limit access is to manage permissions. Both the Manage Users feature and Team web app enable you to specify the:

Users who can access the map.
Role-based permissions each user has.

Note: You improve security by enabling map access through user accounts, because you don’t need to share map passwords.

If you will be collaborating on a single map, we recommend you use the Manage Users feature when saving.

If you will be collaborating on multiple maps, we recommend you use the Team web app.

Note: If you decide to use map passwords, we recommend you do not share the passwords with your entire company. Passwords should be shared verbally or via a password manager service.

How to limit shared data by creating a new map

If a map has sensitive data subsets, you can create a new map only including the specific subset you want to share.

To create the new map:

In the Layers Panel, use folders to group the data subsets by sensitivity level.
Notes: To use the Layers Panel, you must be logged into a Pro account.
Save the original map.
Delete the folders you don't want to share.
Delete a folder by clicking the Garbage Bin on the folder's row in the Layers Panel.
Save the new map.
- Make sure you create a new, unique Map ID when saving the new map.
  In most cases, you can just add a letter or number to the original map's ID.
- (Optional) We recommend you also add an identifier to the title of the new map.
  For example, you can add " - 2" to the end of the title.
Share the map.

Further information

We're constantly improving security and working on new methods to keep data secure. If you have questions about map security, send us a message.