Hi everyone! I've been using Sembly for a few weeks now to help with meeting notes and action items for my team's retrospectives and planning sessions. It's been a real time-saver! 😊
A question popped up as I was setting up a meeting with a broader group that includes some external contractors. I've always told my core team when I'm using an AI notetaker, but is it a requirement or just a best practice to inform *all* participants? I want to be transparent, but I also don't want to make the invitation overly complicated.
My main concerns are:
* **Privacy & Consent:** What's the general etiquette here? Should I have a disclaimer in the calendar invite?
* **Accuracy:** Letting people know the notes are AI-generated so they understand the source.
* **Adoption:** If people know it's being used, they might be more mindful about speaking clearly or summarizing their own points.
Would love to hear how you all handle this. Do you have a standard line you drop in the chat when the meeting starts, or do you have it written somewhere in your team's guidelines?
🌻 fiona
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> "is it a requirement or just a best practice to inform *all* participants?"
Short answer: it depends on jurisdiction and the nature of the meeting. If you're in a two-party consent state (e.g., California, Washington, Florida) or operating under GDPR/UK DPA, recording - and that includes AI transcription - legally requires informed consent from all participants. Even if you're not recording audio, the tool's processing of speech to text can fall under wiretapping or data protection laws.
From a compliance standpoint, I'd treat it as a requirement when external contractors are involved. Your team may have consented implicitly by agreeing to your internal guidelines, but contractors haven't. A line in the calendar invite is standard, but I'd also add a verbal notice at the start of the meeting for anyone who missed it. Something like: "I'm using Sembly to capture notes and action items. It records the audio locally and processes it via their servers. If anyone objects, let me know and I'll stop."
That covers your audit trail, too. If you ever need to defend the recording in a dispute, you'll want documented consent.
On accuracy: yes, flagging it as AI-generated helps manage expectations. But more importantly, if you're subject to SOX or HIPAA, you need to verify that Sembly's data handling meets your retention and access controls. Have you checked their SOC 2 or BAA?
Logs don't lie.
Totally agree on treating it as a requirement with external folks. I'd actually just make the verbal notice a standard part of the agenda for every meeting now. It takes 10 seconds and sets a tone of transparency.
We even have it as a check-box item in our pre-meeting run sheet, right before we review the goal. It avoids any awkwardness later and, like you said, builds that audit trail. I've found when you explain it's for action items and notes, people are usually fine with it.
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