ActivTrak's ChromeOS Agent

ActivTrak’s ChromeOS Agent is available for users of ChromeOS devices, such as Chromebooks, and can also be used in the Google Chrome browser on other operating systems, such as Linux, that do not have their own Agent.

Contents

• Latest Chrome Agent version and change log
• Important considerations
• Installing ChromeOS Agents directly
• Installing ChromeOS Agents remotely
• ChromeOS Agent data collection practices
• Data never collected by ActivTrak
• Features not supported by the ChromeOS Agent
• Features supported by ChromeOS update (version 6.0+)
• ChromeOS Agent troubleshooting
• Learn more

Latest Chrome Agent Version: 8.1.0

• Chrome Agents auto-update via Google without Admin action. 
• Enable the Weekly Digest to receive timely notifications about new Agent versions.
• Check which Agent version is installed on each device by going to Settings > Users and Groups > Computer Agents.
• Note: We require Agents to be up-to-date before troubleshooting any issues.

Important considerations

ChromeOS Agent compatibility

Important: The ChromeOS Agent isn't hidden like other agents. The extension icon appears in the browser toolbar and extensions menu, so users will see it.

Key resources

• Review allowlisting requirements
• Identify Agents that are not reporting data

ChromeOS Agent vs. ActivTrak Assist Browser Extension

These two tools both install as browser extensions, which can make them easy to confuse. Here's how they're different.

ActivTrak Assist Browser Extension

The ActivTrak Assist Browser Extension works alongside the desktop agent on Windows and Mac devices. It enhances activity tracking by capturing more detailed URL data than the agent collects on its own. If your users are on Windows or Mac and you want more complete web activity data, this extension complements your existing agent deployment.

ChromeOS Agent

The ChromeOS Agent is the agent for Chromebook devices. Because ChromeOS doesn't support a traditional desktop agent, the ChromeOS Agent handles all activity tracking directly from the browser. It's a standalone solution built specifically for ChromeOS environments.

Which one do you need?

• Windows or Mac users → Deploy the desktop agent. Add the ActivTrak Assist extension for enhanced URL tracking.
• Chromebook users → Deploy the ChromeOS Agent. No desktop agent or additional extension is needed.

Installing ChromeOS Agents directly

1. In the ActivTrak App, Admins can navigate to Settings > Users & Groups > Chromebook Users.
2. Click the Add Chromebook User button in the top left-hand corner of the page and enter the email address associated with the user's Chrome browser login to send them an invite. 

3. When the user receives the email invitation, they must click on the blue I Accept button, as shown in the screenshot below. This step is required to ensure that the ChromeOS Agent data is associated with the correct user.

4. The employee will be redirected to the Chrome Web Store page, where they will need to download the ActivTrak Workforce Productivity Analytics extension. 

Note: The optimal setup is for the employee to be logged in to Chrome and have Browser Sync enabled when installing the extension. However, Chrome Browser Sync can install the Agent on other computers' browsers if users sign in with the same credentials. Click here to learn more about Google's Chrome Sync feature and how to disable it.

5. Within the Google Web Store, click the Add to Chrome button and then click the Add extension button as shown in the screenshots below.

6. Once the Agent has been installed, verify its activity in the ActivTrak App. To do this, navigate to Settings > Users & Groups > Computer Agents.

Note: For the ChromeOS Agent to function properly, the employee must remain logged in to Chrome.

Installing ChromeOS Agents remotely

If your organization uses Google Workspace, the ActivTrak ChromeOS Agent can be deployed remotely. 

Note: You must have admin-level access to the Google Workspace account in order to perform the following remote deployment steps.

1. In the ActivTrak App, Admins can navigate to Settings > Users & Groups > Chromebook Users.
2. Click the Add Chromebook User button in the top left-hand corner of the page and enter the email address associated with the user's Chrome browser login to send them an invite. 

3. Log in to https://admin.google.com/ and refer to Google's documentation to Force Install the ActivTrak Workforce Productivity Analytics extension to your organization's Chromebook devices. The Extension ID is onaoeoekeoebnkagnlhoojobfhemoldp.
4. Once the Agent has been installed, verify its activity in the ActivTrak App. To do this, navigate to Settings > Users & Groups > Computer Agents to view the Agent.

Note: For the ChromeOS Agent to function properly, the employee must remain logged in to Chrome.

ChromeOS data collection practices

ActivTrak is a privacy-first analytics platform and is committed to safeguarding your data privacy and security. 

The data collected by ActivTrak is encrypted in transit and at rest. All account information is encrypted during transit and stored in a secure data center hosted by Google Cloud Platform (GCP). To learn more about our data privacy and security policies, click here. To get details about the data privacy controls within the ActivTrak app, click here. 

Computer/User information

Information collected by the ChromeOS Agent that is not tied to individual user activities.

User activity information

ActivTrak user activity is defined as the currently active window for mouse movement, mouse clicks and keyboard presses.

Note: For more data configuration and export options, check out our ActivConnect API (Add-on), a set of API connectors and tools that enable access to your ActivTrak data in hundreds of external applications.

Data never collected by ActivTrak

Because we respect data privacy and our focus is on helping organizations improve workforce productivity and efficiency, we do not collect the following intrusive monitoring data points:

• Keystroke logging
• Video camera monitoring

In keeping with our commitment to safeguarding data privacy, the core ActivTrak platform includes default controls to minimize the exposure of sensitive data in ActivTrak reports, ensuring the seamless sharing of ActivTrak reports across your organization.

Sensitive data exclusion

• Exclude title bars and URL subpages by default
• Disable screenshots and screen views by default
• Data history limits are by default
• Optional data hashing
• Exclude non-business activity details from dashboards
• Anonymized and aggregated data options

Features not supported by the ChromeOS Agent

Activity Reporting

• Activities in Chromebook apps besides the Chrome browser cannot be tracked
• Activities not captured (not possible in ChromeOS): ActivTrak Agent stopped, shut down, or uninstalled

Alarms

• Alarm triggers when a USB device writes data (Note: trigger available for USB insertion ONLY)
• Alarm action to record video is not available (Note: screenshot alarms are available)
• Alarm attribution to a System User is not supported on ChromeOS

Features supported by ChromeOS update (version 6.0+)

The ActivTrak ChromeOS Agent 6.0 was released on March 1, 2023, with enhancements to passive time analysis that support our customers with multi-OS environments more effectively.

The inclusion of Passive Time analysis in Chrome replicates the feature already available in ActivTrak’s Windows and macOS Agents, for consistency in productivity reporting across all three platforms. Additionally, there are valuable enhancements to Alarms that benefit customers who utilize these capabilities.

New Features

• Passive Time support, including configurable Passive Time threshold
• Group-specific Alarm triggers
• Ability to detect USB insertion and trigger Alarm actions
• New logged activities:
  • USB inserted
  • Schedule turned on/off
  • Activity timezone
• New remote diagnostics and Agent health checks for improved support and issue resolution

Enhancements

• Detection of the system clock changes to fix odd activity durations
• Improved Alarms and Screenshots reliability, including support for multiple Screenshot triggers
• Fixed several reporting bugs

To upgrade your ChromeOS Agents

Please review this section for the most up-to-date information on ActivTrak's Chrome OS Agent versions. 

ChromeOS Agent troubleshooting

First, please ensure you have the latest ChromeOS Agent version installed on your device(s).

If you have the latest ChromeOS Agent version installed and are still experiencing issues with the Chrome Extension user reporting, try the steps below. 

1. Navigate to Settings > Users & Groups > Chromebook User
2. Verify that the user was invited and added to the list

3. Ensure that the user is logged into their Chrome browser. This means they must fully log in to the browser using the same email address that was registered in ActivTrak.
4. Open the Chrome Browser
5. Find the User icon in the top right of your browser and click on it
6. Click Sign In and input the correct credentials
7. After signing in successfully, the User icon should appear with the user’s initial

If the Agent still isn’t working, have the user sign out of Chrome and sign back in after resending invites through the dashboard.

Note: To resend invites, the user must be removed from the list and then re-added. 

8. Lastly, try disabling and re-enabling the extension so that the permissions window reappears for acceptance. Find the extension icon in the top right of the Chrome browser and select Manage Extensions or navigate to chrome://extensions/
9. Once you are on the extensions page, a list of all of the extensions installed will appear
10. Find the ActivTrak extension and click the blue toggle button once to disable and once more to re-enable

Best Practice: It is always advisable to ensure the Chrome browser version is up to date. This will keep the browser running smoothly!

After trying these steps, if you are still encountering issues, please contact ActivTrak Support for further assistance. ActivTrak provides limited support for ChromeOS.

Learn more

• Understanding the ActivTrak Agent
• ActivTrak Agent Deployment Guide
• Updating the ActivTrak Agent
• Agent Allowlist Addresses for Antivirus and Firewall
• What Data Does ActivTrak Collect?
• Contact Support