AI transcription service Otter.ai is facing a class-action lawsuit in the US alleging that it has been secretly recording private conversations on platforms such as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams without user consent.
Filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, the lawsuit claims Otter has been “deceptively and surreptitiously” using its Otter Notetaker assistant to record and transcribe meetings, later using the data to train its transcription product Otter Notebook. The complaint argues that this was done without informing or obtaining permission from meeting participants—an alleged violation of both state and federal privacy laws.
“What Otter has done is use its Notetaker meeting assistant to record, transcribe, and exploit the contents of conversations without informed consent,” the lawsuit states, adding that the company sought to “derive financial gain” from the practice.
Privacy Policy vs. Practice
Otter’s privacy policy states it trains AI models on meeting transcripts only when users provide “explicit permission” by checking a box. However, the lawsuit alleges that many users were misled or not properly notified when recordings took place.
Reports also claim that if a host links their Otter account to Zoom, Meet, or Teams, the Otter Notetaker can join meetings automatically—often without the knowledge or approval of other attendees.
Users Raise Concerns
The lead plaintiff, Justin Brewer of San Jacinto, California, said his privacy was “seriously violated” when he discovered Otter had recorded a confidential conversation without his consent. Other users on X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit have echoed similar experiences.
- In one case, an AI researcher claimed Otter recorded a sensitive investor meeting on Zoom and later sent him a transcript, which allegedly contributed to a failed business deal.
- Another user said Otter was used during an interview with a Uyghur human rights activist, sparking concerns about third-party data access and government surveillance.
- Several Reddit users reported Otter automatically joining meetings through synced workplace calendars, recording without explicit approval.
Company Response and Scale of Use
Otter has said that it anonymizes meeting data before using it to train AI models, though the lawsuit disputes this, arguing that its “deidentification process” does not reliably remove sensitive details or guarantee speaker anonymity.
Since its launch in 2016, Otter claims to have processed over 1 billion meetings and reports a user base of 25 million people worldwide. But as adoption grows in workplaces, so too have the privacy concerns surrounding its automated recording features.
