Do you have consent, or just compliance?
If you’ve been in a video call recently, you’ve probably seen one of these bots that sits in on the conversation and records/transcribes everything that’s being said.
A question that’s come up before is “If everyone can see this bot in the channel, do I really need permission to use it?”
Let’s start with European law: in nearly every case, you need explicit, informed consent to record a conversation. That means everyone has to give their OK first.
The issue is that a “yes” risks being shaped by power dynamics.
A junior member of staff or a supplier in need of a deal might feel like they can’t say “no” without risking their job or contract.
The GDPR talks about “freely given consent”. But when a clear power imbalance exists, silence will rarely be considered “freely given consent”.
So, if you’re the one pressing the “start recording” button, you’re also the one responsible for making sure you’re getting actual freely-given consent.
Make sure that someone can really object without penalty, and let them know. Agree to not record if anyone refuses.
And, finally, do you really need to record/transcribe this meeting? If it’s just going to be another addition to the dark data drawer, skip it and avoid the pressure.
In the end, the real question isn’t “can I record this?”, the real question is “who in this call is least able to say no if I do?”.
Colin