Is It Legal to Use an AI Notetaker on Client Calls?

Key takeaways

Recording a call you're on is often legal, but AI notetakers create risk because the other people on the call usually never consented, they just got captured.
A disclaimer in the calendar invite or email signature is passive notice, not affirmative consent, and it's a weak place to stand if a dispute arises.
Some states require all-party consent, and the specifics change over time, so the clean, portable habit is to ask out loud every call and assume the strictest rule applies on mixed-state video calls.
A proposed class action, Brewer v. Otter.ai (No. 5:25-cv-06911, N.D. Cal.), filed August 2025, alleges the tool records unsuspecting third parties, and the vendor pushes the consent obligation onto you the user.
The fix is a spoken 10-second script at the top of every call, said while recording, that explains why, says what the tool does, and gives a genuine option to decline. Then log the yes with a timestamp or a line in the client file.
Late joiners, recurring weekly calls, and the silent spouse or business partner all need their own fresh yes, and the silent third party should be named directly in the ask.
If you've already been recording without asking, start asking now, inventory which calls involved external parties, delete what you no longer need, and raise the back catalogue specifically with your attorney.
This isn't legal advice. Confirm all-party-consent rules and any biometric-privacy rules for your states, and your vendor's data retention and training policies, with your own attorney.

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Questions people ask

Is it legal to use an AI notetaker on a client call?

Often yes, but it depends on where everyone on the call is located and whether they consented. Recording a conversation you're part of is legal in many US states under one-party-consent rules. The risk with AI notetakers is that the other people on the call usually never agreed, they were just captured. In all-party-consent states, everyone has to agree. The clean habit that works everywhere is to ask out loud at the top of every call. This isn't legal advice, so confirm your specifics with an attorney.

Does a disclaimer in my calendar invite count as consent?

It's weak. A line in the invite or your email signature is passive notice, and almost nobody reads it. That's not the same as affirmative consent, where the person hears the ask and says yes. If a dispute ever came up, 'it was technically in the invite' is a poor place to stand. Get a spoken yes on the recording instead. It takes ten seconds and it's far stronger.

Which states require everyone on the call to consent?

Some states require all-party consent, while most follow a one-party-consent rule. The exact list can change over time and the details vary, so confirm the current rules for your state and your clients' states before you rely on either. On a video call people can dial in from anywhere, and the stricter rule can apply when parties are in different states, which is why asking out loud on every call is the clean, portable habit.

What do I actually say to get consent?

Say something like: 'Before we dive in, I use an AI notetaker so I can stay present with you instead of scribbling. It records our audio and gives me a private summary for our work together. Okay if I have it on? If you'd rather I didn't, that's totally fine and I'll take notes by hand.' Say it while the recording is running so the yes is captured too. It lands in about ten seconds.

Do I have to ask every single time on a recurring weekly client call?

Fisher Phillips recommends considering the need to obtain consent each and every time you deploy a notetaker, so yes, keep asking. Shorten it to the pocket version so it's a two-second beat instead of a ceremony: 'Notetaker's on again, still good?' The repetition reads as consistency, and it means you never have to reconstruct which of fifty-two calls was covered by which conversation.

What about someone who joins the call late, or a spouse who never speaks?

Both need their own yes. If someone arrives after your ask, re-ask briefly when they join: 'Quick note now that you're on, I've got an AI notetaker running, okay with you?' A silent spouse or business partner is still a party to the conversation, so name them directly rather than assuming the talking client speaks for them, and wait for an actual answer. Silence is not agreement.

What if my client says no?

You turn it off, cheerfully, and take notes by hand. No arguing, no guilt, and never leave it quietly running. A 'yes' only counts if 'no' was a real option. One person declining on one call is nothing. A client discovering you recorded them after they declined is a lost relationship and a possible legal problem.

What do I do about the calls I already recorded without asking?

Start asking on your next call first, since the habit going forward is what you control. Then inventory your back catalogue and separate internal calls from calls with external parties. Delete anything you no longer need rather than sitting on it. Then raise that specific back-catalogue question with your attorney, in the states your clients were actually located in, instead of assuming it resolves itself.

Isn't there a real lawsuit about this?

Yes. According to an analysis by the law firm Fisher Phillips, a proposed class action, Brewer v. Otter.ai (No. 5:25-cv-06911), was filed in the Northern District of California in August 2025. It alleges the tool records unsuspecting third parties without consent, and notes the vendor tells customers to get the necessary permissions themselves rather than obtaining consent for them. In other words, the design assumes you're the responsible party.

What about voiceprints and stored audio?

Worth a separate question to your attorney and your vendor. Some tools do more than transcribe. If yours builds any kind of voice profile, ask whether that triggers biometric-privacy rules where you and your clients operate. Also ask your vendor where data is stored, how long they retain it, whether they use it to train their AI, and how fast a permanent delete actually completes. Delete transcripts you no longer need so months of sensitive client audio don't pile up in someone else's cloud.

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Written by Ronnie Nijmeh

Ronnie spent 18 years building a SaaS with a team of 20 that served over 650,000 customers, generated over $14M in sales, and sent over 550M emails. Now he's solo, solving real business bottlenecks and turning them into working AI skills, workflows, and automations. He teaches all of it, with direct access to him, inside the Solo Creators AI Studio Skool community. See what he's built →