Add 'Create Tracker Views' to custom permission options for ArcGIS Online Roles

[AaronKoelker]

Apologies if this isn't the right place to post this - the ArcGIS Tracker Ideas page suggested posting in Field Maps, but I could also see this being a general ArcGIS Online suggestion, too.

Currently, it seems that only AGO Administrators are able to create new Track Views from the Track Viewer web site , and there is no custom permissions option/toggle for this privilege when creating a custom role in ArcGIS Online. It would be beneficial to us if we could have a custom role in ArcGIS Online that allows for non-admin users to create Track Views on their own, instead of requiring them to coordinate with an Administrator. This would benefit organizations whose GIS is a bit more decentralized. For example, we have 'GIS Coordinators' spread around different program areas, whose responsibilities fall somewhere in between Publisher and Administrator.

[Anonymous User]

We have heard this suggestion before and have had some internal discussions around it. It's not a trivial thing to implement because the change requires a platform level adjustment to the view-layer ownership model (in addition to the new privilege). That said, we think there is a lot of value in this and are optimistic it can be accomplished - more discussion/investigation is required before we can commit to anything though.

[AaronKoelker]

Thanks for the response, fellow Aaron. I see where the challenge lies. I think even if the ownership of the hosted feature view remained with the Admin who originally enabled Tracker for the org, it would still benefit us to let non-admins create views on their own -- similar to how other admins can create views now which don't end up falling under their ownership. But perhaps that is only possible because of the admin role's innate privileges for being able to see/create/edit everything in the org? 

If a non-admin could trigger the creation of a Track View, and then have their account automatically added to the associated Track View Group which is created for it, I think that would be just as good. They don't necessarily need to own the view in their content. They just need to be able to find it easily without having to coordinate with admins.

Looking forward to whatever possible solution you all think up.

[Anonymous User]

Hi @AaronKoelker,

We are doing some initial research/testing around this idea. One question that came up was around privacy. Currently, administrators can view the tracks of all users in the org. Users that are permitted to create track views may also have this ability depending on the implementation that is chosen. Are there any concerns with that?

[AaronKoelker]

@Anonymous User 

I can only speak to my own org of course, but for us I don't think the privacy of the tracker logs would be a huge concern. During testing, we did have a couple cases where staff left Tracker running in the background after heading home for the day, so it created track logs to their homes. We met with those users and the non-Admin staff who would be managing the Tracker views and used it as a learning opportunity to discuss how that happened and make sure everyone understood exactly how the Tracker license and Field Maps work, when it is collecting data, and who would be able to see the data, etc. So stuff like that I think can mostly be taken care of with some proactive training. For the expected track logs collected during working hours, we're not too concerned if one project group or division can view where another group/division has been in the field or what they are working on, so long as they don't have the ability to accidently edit or delete that data.

[AndrewMoskaLee]

I think that a good solution to mitigating privacy concerns would be to allow users to create a geofenced tracking exclusion zone.  Its pretty common that field work is not based directly around where you live.  So if all of your field work is done outside of the city in which you live you could exclude the whole city from your track logs.  Or if your field work is done throughout your city, you could just geofence your neighborhood.  It would at least make users feel that they had some level of control over any privacy concerns they may have.

Also, please bring back the ability to set up a tracking schedule.  It doesn't seem that this is possible from field maps.