Where recordings and transcripts end up stored

When an AI note taker records a meeting, the files usually don't stay on your laptop. They go somewhere else. Before you use a tool, find out where, who can open them, and when they're deleted.

What you need to find out

Write down answers to these before the first meeting. The tool's privacy policy, terms and help pages are where they usually live.

• Is the audio kept, or only the transcript?
• Where are the files held? Which country or region?
• Who at your business can open them? Who at the tool's company can?
• How long are they kept, and can you change that?
• What happens when you delete a file? Is it gone straight away, or later?
• Does the company use your meeting content to train or improve its own models?
• Are there backups, and do deletions reach them?
• Can you export everything and close the account?

If the terms don't answer a question, ask the company in writing and keep the reply. If they still don't answer, that tells you something.

The usual picture

Cloud-based tools keep files in cloud storage. That's described as a model where data is stored remotely in logical pools and is accessible to users over a network, typically the Internet¹. The same source says the physical environment is typically owned and managed by a cloud computing provider¹.

Two things follow. First, the company running the note taker may not be the company holding the servers. There can be a chain of providers. Second, "in the cloud" is not a location. It's somebody's building, in a particular country, under that country's laws.

Copies you might not think about

The recording isn't the only copy.

• The call platform may keep its own recording.
• The note taker keeps audio, transcript and summary, sometimes separately.
• Summaries get emailed, pasted into chat and saved in shared folders.
• Staff may download files to personal devices.
• Task tools may hold copies of the action items.
• Backups may hold older versions.

When you delete something, you're deleting one copy. Make a short list of every place a meeting's content ends up. Then you know where to look.

Personal information is the issue

Recordings and transcripts usually contain people's names and voices, and often more. New Zealand's Privacy Commissioner lists recordings among its examples of personal information². It also says personal information is covered by the Privacy Act regardless of how it's stored². That's one country's position, and the details differ elsewhere. For the rules where you operate, check your regulator. Australian readers can start with the OAIC. UK readers can start with the ICO. In the US, start with the Federal Trade Commission and your state.

Readers in health, legal or financial work should ask their professional body or lawyer about holding client conversations with a third party. For health businesses, keep AI note takers to front-desk and admin meetings. Clinical conversations are out of scope here.

How long to keep things

Keeping everything forever is a risk, and so is deleting too soon. A data retention policy is described as an organisation's rules for retaining information for operational, legal and regulatory purposes³. Those policies specify which data will be archived, how long it's kept, and whether it's archived or destroyed at the end of the retention period³.

For a small business, a simple version could be:

• Keep the final minutes and action list in your normal files.
• Keep the audio only as long as you need it to check the notes. How long that is, you decide.
• Delete the raw transcript once the minutes are checked, unless you've a reason to keep it.
• Write the rule down and tell staff.

Tax and employment records have their own legal retention periods, and meeting notes about them may count. Ask your accountant or the official body, such as the ATO, HMRC or IRS, instead of guessing.

Check the settings, then check again

Tools change their settings and terms. Look at the account settings now, and again every few months. Switch off anything you don't need, such as automatic recording of every calendar meeting or automatic sharing to all attendees.

Related pages: consent basics and conversations to leave unrecorded.