Telling people you are recording a meeting

Do you have to ask first? It depends on where everyone on the call sits. Nothing here is legal advice. The page names the official bodies to ask, and shows what the tools themselves do. For your own business, a lawyer or the regulator below gives the real answer.

The rules differ by place

There's no single rule. Recording laws are set country by country, and in some countries state by state.

• Australia. The federal Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 and State and Territory listening devices laws may both apply to monitoring or recording of telephone conversations¹. Wikipedia's summary says the general rule in Australia is that a call may not be recorded, with exceptions only in very limited circumstances¹. If a call is to be recorded, it says the organisation must tell the other party at the beginning, so they can end the call or ask to be transferred to another line¹. Telling the other party doesn't replace checking the rules: ask the OAIC or a lawyer. The privacy side is handled by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
• United States. Laws in the United States vary by state¹. Some states require only one party to be aware of a recording, and others generally require both parties to be aware¹. Several states require that all parties consent when one party wants to record a telephone conversation¹.
• United Kingdom. A recording made by one party to a call without notifying the other isn't prohibited provided it's for their own use¹. Acts that make some or all of the contents of the communication available to a person other than the sender or intended recipient are prohibited¹. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the official source on data protection.
• Elsewhere. Some countries are stricter. Germany, for example, is described as a two-party consent jurisdiction¹.

A mixed call is the tricky case. If a client in one state or country joins your call, their place's rules may apply as well as yours. Where you're unsure, the safe habit is to tell everyone and to give them the chance to object.

Privacy law is a separate question

Even where recording itself is allowed, a transcript is a record of personal information. In Australia, a business covered by the Privacy Act must understand its duties under the Australian Privacy Principles when it uses AI, says the OAIC². The OAIC adds that many recordings of individuals contain sensitive information².

Its notification guidance (APP 5) puts the timing this way: the steps come at or before collection, or as soon as practicable afterwards³. Whether the Privacy Act covers your business is something to confirm on the OAIC's own pages.

In the UK and the US, look to the ICO and your state attorney general's office for the equivalent guidance.

What the tools do on their own

Tools often announce themselves. In Google Meet, the notes feature informs all participants that notes are being taken, and a pencil icon appears on every participant's screen⁴. Administrators can also require explicit consent from all participants before features like notes, recording and transcription start. That setting is off by default, and the administrator chooses whether to turn it on⁴. Checked on 6 November 2026 against Google's page.

A banner is not the same as agreement. A person who joins a call late may not see it, and an external guest may never read it.

A plain routine

1. Look up the rules for each place your attendees are in.
2. Say in the invitation that an AI tool will record and transcribe, and who will see the notes.
3. Repeat it when the call starts, then pause for objections.
4. If someone objects, switch the tool off and take notes by hand.
5. Tell people where the recording will be kept, as covered in where recordings are stored.