Recording a meeting with AI and the consent rules that apply

AI note-takers and meeting assistants have made recording a conversation as easy as clicking a button, and with that a quiet legal question has become common, whether the other people have to agree. The answer depends on where everyone is, and asking is almost always the right move. This article covers the rules in the US and the EU, the newer rules about AI in hiring, and a practical way to ask. It gives general information, and a lawyer can tell you how the rules apply to your own situation.

One-party and all-party consent in the United States

US federal law sets the floor. Under the federal wiretap statute, it is not unlawful for a person to record a phone, in-person or electronic conversation they are part of, or one where a participant has agreed, unless the recording is made to commit a crime or a tort (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)). This is called one-party consent. If you are in the conversation, your own agreement is enough under federal law.

States can be stricter, and many are. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, about 11 states primarily require the consent of all parties. They are California, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan (at least for recordings by someone outside the conversation), Montana, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Washington (RCFP). A few more states mix the two rules. Missouri and Oregon require everyone’s consent for in-person conversations and one party’s for phone calls, Connecticut and Nevada do the reverse, and Hawaii and Maine require everyone’s consent in particularly private places. Vermont has no recording statute of its own, so the federal rule applies there.

How strict all-party states are

California’s law shows what is at stake. It forbids recording a confidential communication without the consent of all parties, whether the conversation happens in person or over a phone or other device. A communication counts as confidential when the circumstances reasonably indicate that a participant wants it kept among the people taking part. Public gatherings are excluded, and so are situations where people may reasonably expect to be overheard or recorded. A first violation can be punished by a fine of up to $2,500 per violation, jail, or both, and a recording made in violation cannot be used as evidence (California Penal Code § 632).

Most state laws also let the person recorded sue, and some allow triple damages and attorney’s fees, so a civil claim is a real risk even when a prosecution is unlikely.

Calls across state lines

Video calls rarely stay in one state. Courts disagree on whether the law of the recorder’s state or of the recorded person’s state governs, so RCFP advises assuming the stricter law applies to interstate calls. If anyone on the call might be in an all-party state, get everyone’s consent.

What counts as consent

You do not always need a signature. RCFP notes that when the people in a conversation are told it is being recorded and carry on, courts generally treat that as consent, and the same goes for a face-to-face interview with the recorder in plain view. The simplest way to show consent is to say it out loud at the start and keep a record that you did.

AI transcription counts as recording

The statutes talk about recording, eavesdropping or intercepting, and most of them were written decades before AI note-takers existed. A tool that captures the audio of a call in order to transcribe it does exactly what these laws describe, and the transcript is a record of the conversation. The safe reading treats AI transcription the same as recording, including when the tool deletes the audio afterwards.

With AI tools the audio or text usually goes to another company as well. Tell people which tool you use, and check what that company keeps.

GDPR in Europe

In the EU, a recording or transcript of identifiable people is personal data, and the General Data Protection Regulation applies to it. Two parts of the regulation matter most for meetings.

One is a lawful basis. Article 6 lists six, and for meetings the realistic ones are consent and legitimate interests. Relying on legitimate interests means weighing your interest in the recording against the participants’ rights (GDPR Art. 6).

The other is telling people. When you collect personal data from the people themselves, Article 13 requires telling them who is collecting it, why and on what basis, who receives it, how long it is kept, and what rights they have, including the right to complain to a regulator (GDPR Art. 13).

GDPR does not apply to processing by a person in the course of a purely personal or household activity (GDPR Art. 2). A family call can fall under that exemption. A work meeting cannot, and if you record at work, your employer’s policy and its data protection officer are the place to start.

Newer rules about AI in hiring

Two rules apply specifically when AI evaluates people in hiring. Since 2 February 2025 the EU AI Act has prohibited the use of AI systems to infer people’s emotions in the workplace and in education, except for medical or safety reasons (Article 5(1)(f)). Tools that claim to read a candidate’s enthusiasm or stress from their face or voice fall under it.

Illinois’ Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act requires employers that use AI to analyze recorded video interviews to tell applicants beforehand, explain how the AI works and what it looks at, and get their consent. Employers may share the videos only with people needed to evaluate them, and must delete them within 30 days if the applicant asks (820 ILCS 42).

These rules bind employers. Candidates usually face another question, whether the interview rules allow AI assistance at all. Many employers prohibit outside help in live interviews and some do not allow recording, and a tool’s ability to hide its window does not change what you agreed to. If the instructions are unclear, ask.

How to ask, in practice

Put a line in the invitation and say it again at the start of the call.

I use an AI note-taker that transcribes the call so I can share notes afterwards. The transcript stays with me and I delete it after thirty days. Is everyone OK with that?

Wait for an answer from each person. If someone says no, turn the tool off and take notes by hand, because it is their conversation too. Tell people who join late when they arrive.

For recurring meetings, agree on it once and write it into the meeting description, so new attendees see it before they join.

How Prepped handles consent

Before the first meeting you activate, Prepped asks you to confirm that the people in your conversations agree to be recorded and transcribed, and it records when you confirmed. You can have it ask again before the next meeting. It saves the audio itself only if you turn on meeting records in the desktop app, and then only on your computer, in ordinary files that are not encrypted. Its transcripts are text you can correct or delete, and deleting a meeting removes its transcript, answers and material. The responsibility for the other people’s agreement stays with you, which is why the question appears where you cannot miss it.