idea Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable in ArcGIS Online Ideas

Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

MollyBurhans — Fri, 20 May 2016 21:57:47 GMT

It would be very helpful to have an option to make ArcGIS Online maps unsearchable, and therefore not visible on ArcGIS online outside of the organization unless you have a URL or it is embedded in a site (ideally, there would be an option for it to be visible only if embedded, with secure URL, but I don't know if that's possible). This would allow maps to be embedded in a secure website directory able to be displayed to everyone accessing it, but challenging to access in otherways.

I am having to go back and erase all the metadata, tags and descriptions so that the users can log on to the secure website directory but they cannot be easily found or understood in ArcGIS online. I think this may all be possible if I download the apps and maps and configure them offline and add them outside of ArcGIS Online, but it’s a bit of a hassle.

ISSUU online has a comperable security feature for sharing pdfs: http://help.issuu.com/hc/en-us/articles/204816088-How-to-upload-and-publish-unlisted-documents-Can-I-protect-my-publications-

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

CooperThomas — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:38:51 GMT

I'm unable to upvote ideas, but on behalf of the Story Maps community, I'd like to echo Molly's request for unlisted content in ArcGIS Online. This is an increasingly common feature request from Story Maps authors concerned about the privacy of their data. This feature would also help reduce clutter in ArcGIS Online, which currently contains thousands upon thousands of single-purpose layers that often conceal the more broadly useful/relevant content.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

TheoFaull — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 16:17:25 GMT

Yes we want to be able to share a URL to our WebMap with our customers for them to access on their home PCs, but not for our data to be found on ArcGIS online. Currenlty we have to make the map public, to get the URL to send out. There really needs to be a middle option here.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

BrockThompson1 — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 13:50:59 GMT

Assuming the option hasn't been added in the meantime, I agree. The ability to create public but unsearchable content would be a very valuable addition to the platform.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

DaronWilliams — Wed, 03 Jan 2018 18:52:30 GMT

Agreed - being able to mark a map and the associated layers as public but unlisted so they are visible only to those with the link would be a huge help. You can do this with YouTube videos and it would be a great feature for online maps.

As a land trust we work with property owners that have conservation easements on their properties. We monitor these properties once a year and provide reports to those individuals showing how the monitoring went. We are using Survey123 and Collector to do our monitoring and it would be very helpful to have a map for each easement with their monitoring information on it. Since we have 20+ easements we can't create user accounts for all of them. We are considering creating one user account for our easement property owners but the issue with just one account is that all easement holders could potentially log in and view other people's monitoring reports. Also, there is the added step of making them login to view the information which is a barrier to many of them.

Being able to share a link to an unlisted map would solve all these issues and would make our work flow much easier. Due to the current setup we are having to make pdf maps to send to the land owners. Having the option to make a map or app unlisted and shareable via a link would make a huge difference to our work. Please consider adding this option.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

DeanChiang — Wed, 31 Jan 2018 22:06:38 GMT

This idea is critical for serious workflow in ArcGIS Online because it is basically a Production environment only, and for most AGOL customers, I would guess they do not have a parallel on-premise Portal to use as the Dev or Test environment. Often prior to a public release, you would want to have draft data or web maps reviewed (or previewed) without requiring user login, but you don't want the general public to easily find the data or map or app still in beta.

ArcGIS.com search engine should follow the basic Internet convention of using the noindex metadata keyword to block the item from being indexed and not display the item when we tag it as such. Other possible tags may be

no-index‌

nosearch‌

no-search‌

testonly‌

#draft‌

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

AndySiegel — Mon, 26 Feb 2018 20:10:57 GMT

I am currently updating my organization's (City of Bothell) ArcGIS Online pages/content and this functionality seems like a necessity. We have a lot of disparate layer/maps that connect to various web map applications. If someone searches for 'bothell', the search returns our authoritative web apps in addition to all of the maps and layer that must be shared publicly for the app to work. We don't necessarily want someone searching 'bothell' to see all the extra maps/layer that are used to create web apps. This problem should be fixed immediately. I'm not a web developer, but it seems that adding a 'make unsearchable to public' toggle button isn't too crazy to ask for. Thanks!

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

MalcolmMeyer2 — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 12:20:37 GMT

How about just eliminating the need to have named users entirely? Just allow a map service to be password protected with a username:password.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

Lvivcenter — Tue, 15 Sep 2020 08:44:42 GMT

This is something that is just necessary.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

Anonymous User — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 15:53:39 GMT

Has there been any discussion on this internally? A colleague wrote to me this morning,

It would be helpful if there was something similar to an unlisted option where folks would only need a link and not have to create an account to review StoryMaps. When uploading a video in YouTube these options are available so you can decide who has the ability to see the video. I know we can share to different groups and publish publicly already, but I was thinking an unlisted option might be useful. Maybe include the ability to choose or create your own watermark (DRAFT, DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, etc.) that will be visible on every page so it is not mistaken for a finished product.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

JeffDeWitt1 — Wed, 03 Nov 2021 11:02:08 GMT

Great idea! We have a lot of public facing content that we don't want to be easily discoverable or searchable and this would be a great way to help to protect that content without having to protect it with a named user from our account.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

AlessioDiLorenzo — Tue, 01 Mar 2022 08:13:26 GMT

Crucial feature

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

Hannes_Brandt — Tue, 26 Apr 2022 07:01:52 GMT

Would love to see this for uploaded files like images as well.

And please don't forget ArcGIS Enterprise.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

MollyMoore — Thu, 02 Jun 2022 15:59:34 GMT

This would be immensely helpful for us!

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

T_Schaffer — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 18:51:04 GMT

This would be helpful for my organization as well. Has there been any movement on this request?

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

JeffDeWitt1 — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 19:25:44 GMT

I have spoken to several developers and staff with ESRI's security team and there is not a lot of interest at this point in implementing something like this. I have explained our specific use case scenario where we need something between content being totally open and searchable and being totally secured with a named user, but I have not made much progress pushing a solution like this along. I would recommend emailing ESRI's security team at SoftwareSecurity@esri.com to add your use case scenario so we can bring more awareness to the team about this kind of product enhancement.

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

MicahJohnson — Fri, 08 Dec 2023 19:08:06 GMT

It's been 7 years since the OP, and this request is literally all over the internet and ESRI boards.

This makes sense from a variety of angles. Is ESRI looking into this at all?

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

AlessioDiLorenzo — Sat, 16 Dec 2023 08:18:35 GMT

I just want to confirm that the possibility to have a not indexed/searchable url, sometimes marks the difference beetween using arcgis online applications (i.e. Dashboards) in production or just as prototypes. Please, add it!

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

PeterKnoop — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 16:06:59 GMT

ArcGIS StoryMaps now provides a solution where you can uncheck the box "Show in web search results" when publishing a publicly-shared story. That prevents random users from finding your story through searching the web, and enables you to share the URL with specific people whom you want to view the story.

That sort of security-by-obscurity approach would fit many of the use cases in this thread. You do have to live with the fact that others you have shared the URL with my share it beyond your intended scope.

It would be great to see that same sort of capability implemented for all types of ArcGIS Online content.

(ArcGIS StoryMaps implements this capability by adding a typeKeyword of smsharingnoseo to stories for which you have unchecked the "Show in web search results" box.)

Re: Privacy Setting, ArcGIS Online: unsearchable but publically viewable if embeddable

StephenF1 — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 16:56:18 GMT

Seconding this functionality.