Image credit: Otter.ai
A lawsuit filed in the US has alleged that AI-powered transcription and note-taking tool, Otter.ai , has been “deceptively and surreptitiously” recording private conversations from platforms like Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. The class-action suit claims the company uses these recordings to train its popular transcription service, Otter Notebook , without getting permission from the participants. The lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges that the AI tool does not obtain consent from meeting attendees to record the same. It even fails to notify them that these recordings are being shared with Otter, the lawsuit highlights. “In fact, if the meeting host is an Otter accountholder who has integrated their relevant Google Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams accounts with Otter, an Otter Notetaker may join the meeting without obtaining the affirmative consent from any meeting participant, including the host. What Otter has done is use its Otter Notetaker meeting assistant to record, transcribe, and utilize the contents of conversations without the Class members’ informed consent,” the lawsuit noted.
What users said about Otter secretly recording work meetings
In one reported case from last year, an AI researcher and engineer alleged that Otter had recorded a Zoom meeting with investors.
The user also claimed that the AI tool later sent him a transcript containing “sensitive, confidential details” of a discussion that took place after he had left the call. Those disclosures contributed to a failed business deal, according to him. Nvidia H20 Chips for China: What’s Really Going On?