Online Map Secure Sharing with ZeeMaps

ZeeMaps online map sharing options range from secure personalized sharing to publishing a map on a website. This article describes methods to securely share one or more online maps.

Methods to Securely Share Online Maps

There are two ways to securely share online maps:

1. Share a map with specific users.

2. Share a link and an access key for the map.

Share Online Map with specific Users

To share an online map with specified users, use the Print or Share -> Share with… menu item on your map.

Sharing a Map with Specified Users

In the resulting dialog, if needed, restrict the pin color to a single color. For the color restriction, make sure the map is marked Private (see below).

Restrict pins color to share

Enter the email addresses of the other users in the appropriate sections, depending on whether you want to grant the users Admin, Member or Viewer access.

An online map shared with another user is listed in the Shared tab of the My Maps page. For the other user, the map is listed in the Accessible tab of the My Maps page.

If you need to share multiple maps at once, use the Share with map operation in your My Maps page.

Share Online Map with a link and key

When you share a map with a link, the map access keys (see below) define viewers’ privileges. If you have locked the map with access keys, then a user can unlock the map with a key to gain access. For Private maps, an access key dialog will appear when the user first loads the map.

For Public online maps, the user should click on the Map Access link on the top right of the map.

FeatureShare with emailShare with link and key
SecurityOnly signed-in users see the mapKeys can be easily broadcast
Restrict ShareShare pins of only one colorNo restrictions
ZeeMaps Methods for Map Sharing o

Each method of sharing has its benefits. If you are crowdsourcing locations on an map, then sharing a map link with keys is the best solution. Each person can add their location on the map without signing in with ZeeMaps. When you have a private online map of sensitive information, e.g., customer locations, then sharing with specific users works better. Sharing with another user also allows you to restrict the map to only one pin color.

When sharing online maps, secure your maps properly to prevent unauthorized access. We describe key elements of maps security below.

Online Map Security

ZeeMaps provides a HIPAA compliant infrastructure for mapping.

Online maps are Private or Public. Private maps allows access to only authorized users. Public maps are viewable by anyone. The viewing details depend on the access control settings.

Access Control

Each online map has three access levels: Admin, Member and Viewer:

Admin: similar to map owner. A user with Admin privileges can add, delete or modify map settings and markers. With Admin access users can download data from the map.

Member: has limited access to the map. Member access cannot make changes to map settings. Members cannot change highlighted areas on the map. Members can add pins on the map. Depending on a map setting, Members can edit or delete pins.

Viewer: is the lowest privilege. Viewers can only see the map. Viewers cannot change the map.

Define Map Security

Get to the Map Settings page using the Map -> Map Settings menu.

Map Settings menu
Map Settings Menu item

On the Settings page, use the Map Security tab to set the online map as Private or Public. Define the access keys.

Define Map Security

HIPAA compliance maps easily built using ZeeMaps

We take security measures very seriously here at ZeeMaps. As a result, we are happy to report that we are HIPAA compliant.


HIPPA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Which started in 1996. It includes measures to protect patient health data. Consequently, it affects any company that deals with protected health information (PHI). Therefore, they must make sure that physical, network, and process security measures are adhered to.

We meet HIPAA requirements

ZeeMaps is HIPAA compliant. So what does this mean for our users? Essentially, all it means you can rest assured that your data is completely secure.

For example, all user information and data are stored encrypted on a database. Therefore, data are not stolen or leaked. We use one of the strongest block ciphers available to encrypt data.

In addition, multi-factor authentication provides an extra layer of security.
The diagram below shows our infrastructure design. The diagram illustrates secure traffic flow from users to the ZeeMaps environment. This traffic flow helps to endure HIPAA compliance.

HIPAA compliant ZeeMaps secure infrastructure
HIPAA Compliant ZeeMaps secure infrastructure

HIPAA Patient-Provider Maps

You can use the secure ZeeMaps infrastructure to create patient-provider maps. First, create a spreadsheet of all your patient and provider locations. Next, add a column to the spreadsheet called Category. For values, you could enter phrases. Such as, “Patient”, “Physical Therapist”, or “Occupational Therapist”, etc.

Next, upload the spreadsheet to you HIPAA map on ZeeMaps.

Now, the map should show all your patients and providers. Including, patients and different kinds of providers colored differently.

Click View > Then, Search Menu

Search for providers within a certain distance of a patient, or an address. Limit the provider types by clicking on the legend at the bottom of the map.

Finally, to export the list of results as a spreadsheet. Use the “Export CSV”. (Found at the bottom of the Search dialog)

Business Associate Agreements

ZeeMaps can sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) for anyone who wants to use our service. A BAA is a contract between a HIPAA-covered entity and a business associate. Designed to protect patient health data in accordance with HIPAA guidelines.

Share maps with other users

You can share your maps in ZeeMaps with other users, giving them controlled access.
To share your map, sign-in to ZeeMaps and go to the My Maps page. In the Owned map section, select the maps that you want to share by clicking on the map row anywhere except the title of the map. The selected rows will change to a blue background color. Then, use the Map Operations menu above the list, and the Share sub-menu within it to share the maps.
Share map from My Maps
This will bring up a dialog that allows you to specify the users with whom you want to share the maps, along with access rights that you want to give them, i.e., Viewer, Member or Admin.
Share map with specific privileges
Once you have shared the maps, they’ll become available to the other users in the Accessible tab of their My Maps section.
You can change access rights, or revoke the sharing anytime, by going to your Shared maps section in the My Maps page. The users with whom you have shared maps can also reject a sharing through their Accessible tab.

Map Location Search & Export List

The map location search capability in ZeeMaps allows you to search your map based on marker field values and geography, e.g., you can search for all “Gold” customers in California in a customer map on ZeeMaps.

First, use the View -> Search menu item on your map to bring up a search dialog as shown below:

Search Dialog Map Location
Search Dialog

How to Search the Map Locations

Section A of the search dialog is for limiting the search results to values in your marker fields. First, this input in this section allows you to select the field to search. Next, this drop-down is for selecting the predicate (e.g. contains, equals, etc.). Third, this input box is for the value to search. You can click on the AND or OR buttons to add up to four clauses for searching marker fields. Example: Name equals Jill

Section B allows you to combine your field search by distance or geography. Therefore, you can specify an address and a distance to limit the search results within a certain distance of your address or map location. Now, if you have highlighted regions in your map, e.g., the state of California, then you can limit the search results by clicking on the highlighted region. Normally search results are limited to 200 entries.

You can increase or decrease this number in Section C.

Then, to search the map locations, hit the Search button. You should see the status line at the bottom right of the map change. Now, it will reflect the number of entries that matched your search.

Export Matched Map Locations

Lastly, if you want to get a list of entries that matched your map location search and put them in a spreadsheet, you can hit the “Export CSV” button instead of the “Search” button. Normally, only map Admins are allowed to export the search results as CSV.

If you have any issues opening the .csv in excel try following these steps.

In case you want your members or viewers to also be able to export search results, use the Map -> Settings menu item and then the Map Security tab to change the default settings.

Maps published in secure (HTTPS) sites not showing in Firefox and Chrome

If you have a map published in a secure (https) site, please read on.
Recently Firefox and Chrome have stopped showing mixed mode (secure and non-secure) content through IFRAMEs.
In order for your secure published map to work in Firefox and Chrome, please get a new publish HTML code from ZeeMaps, or change the SRC URL of the IFRAME to HTTPS from HTTP.
Let us know if we can provide any additional assistance.