Privacy Button

Privacy Button Overview

The Privacy Button is a button you can install to allow drivers to toggle GPS location tracking for a vehicle. 

At the last reported location of the vehicle, the Samsara dashboard displays a gray dot. In the vehicle details, the vehicle also displays the privacy icon and Privacy Mode status.

A trip segment ends after five minutes of no movement. When a driver presses the Privacy Button, the trip segment ends if the button is not pressed again within five minutes to re-enable tracking. If tracking is disabled before the potential trip segment initiation, the whole segment is not shown.

Note

GPS distance across the platform is still tracked regardless of the privacy status.

Pressing the Privacy Button does not affect video accessibility and the harsh event alerts and thumbnails are generated. In addition, equipment and activity report are not populated with auxiliary non-private information about privacy sessions initiations or Privacy Button utilisation; however the Privacy Sessions Report is available.

Privacy Button Models

The Privacy Button is available in two models depending on your Vehicle Gateway version.

• VG34 - ACC-BPR

• VG54 - ACC-CPR

Privacy Button Reset Modes

To continue privacy mode during restart, the driver can press the privacy button while the gateway blinks during the first minute (in automatic reset modes).

There are three privacy status reset modes available:

Reset Mode	Option	Mode Configuration
None	1	Allows persistent privacy status
Automatic	2	Restart tracking upon new trip segment initiation
	3	Restart tracking upon engine start Note Compatible with combustion engines with diagnostics enabled only

Set up a Privacy Button

The Privacy Button connects to the 12-port adapter of the Vehicle Gateway.

To set up and configure a Privacy Button:

1. Verify that you have the appropriate Privacy Button model for your Vehicle Gateway (see Privacy Button Models).

2. Plug the cable from the Privacy Button into the auxiliary port of the Vehicle Gateway.

   Remove any auxiliary input currently connected to the Input 2 wire on the VG cable, as it might interfere with the Privacy Button signal. For more information about the VG auxiliary input wires, please see Auxiliary Inputs.

3. Apply adhesive tape to the back of the Privacy Button and secure it to the dashboard.

4. On the Samsara Dashboard, configure the Privacy Button:

   1. Select the Settings icon () at the bottom of your Fleet menu to view dashboard settings.

   2. Select the vehicle where you installed the Privacy Button and open the vehicle settings.

   3. Under Aux Input Type for Input Number 2, select Privacy Button.

   4. Save your changes.

5. Reach out to your Sales Representative or Customer Success Manager to configure your reset mode (see Privacy Button Reset Modes).

Impact of a Privacy Button on VG LED Indicators

While using the Privacy Button, the LED on the Vehicle Gateway exhibits the following behavior:

VG State	LED Behavior
VG online	LED is on while tracking is on. LED is off while tracking is off.
Trip restarting	Button blinks for one minute upon trip restarting If within a minute the button is pressed, tracking never restarts and the LED turns off.
VG asleep	When the power level is moderate, the LED blinks green once for 20ms in a 2 seconds window. When the power level is low (after 7 days of moderate state), the LED blinks green twice for 20 ms in a 2 second window.