You join a Zoom or Microsoft Teams meeting, look at the participant list, and notice a silent attendee named Otter.ai Notetaker, Read.ai, or Fireflies.ai. Nobody remembers inviting this virtual guest, yet it is actively recording, transcribing, and summarizing everything you say. You are left wondering who actually gets to read the final transcript, where that data goes, and if your conversation is being used to train artificial intelligence models.
The direct answer is that the person who registered the bot and synced their calendar owns and controls the transcript. This user can store, edit, or share the meeting notes with anyone without your direct knowledge. While native tools like Zoom AI Companion do not use customer data to train AI models, many third-party bots do use your meeting data for model training unless you manually opt out. Understanding otter ai meeting privacy is crucial because these bots do not join meetings randomly: they are triggered directly by a participant's calendar.
How AI Note-Takers Access Your Meetings
A common consumer myth is that AI bots randomly infiltrate public video calls or that everyone on the call automatically receives a copy of the transcript. In reality, a bot only joins a meeting because at least one participant synced their Outlook or Google calendar to an AI service. When that participant has an upcoming meeting on their calendar, the AI service automatically sends its bot to join the call as a virtual participant.
This cloud-to-cloud connection bypasses your computer entirely. A common mistake is uninstalling the Zoom or Teams desktop app expecting it to stop your bot from joining. This fails because the bot connects directly through your calendar sync in the cloud, not your local software.
When evaluating if are ai note takers safe, you must consider how they handle your data. Third-party bots often process your audio on external servers. Much like how users must opt out of data sharing on other platforms, as detailed in our guide on whether Is Gemini Reading Your Private Google Docs and Gmail?, these meeting assistants may default to using your conversations to train their language models unless you change your privacy settings.
How to Identify and Instantly Kick Bots
You do not have to let an unwanted bot record your conversation. You can identify these bots by scanning your participant roster for names containing "Notetaker", "Read.ai", or "Fireflies". Once spotted, you can remove them immediately.
- Use Chat Commands: You can remove certain bots instantly by typing a command in the meeting chat. To remove an Otter bot, type "stop otter" in the chat. To remove a Read.ai bot, type "Read Stop" in the chat.
- Remove via Participant List: If you are the meeting host, open the Participants list in Zoom or Teams. Find the bot, click the three dots next to its name, and select "Remove" to eject it from the call. This method is verified by Otter.ai Support.
- Opt Out of Recording: Simply kicking a bot mid-meeting does not automatically delete what it has already recorded. To wipe the data collected during that session, you must type "Opt Out" in the chat for Read.ai, or the bot owner must manually delete the file from their dashboard. This is similar to how other platforms handle data retention, which we explore in our article on Does ChatGPT Keep Your Deleted Chats?.
How to Stop Your Own Bot from Auto-Joining
If you are the one whose calendar is triggering the bot, you can change your settings to prevent it from automatically crashing every meeting you attend.
- Change Settings to Manual: Log into your AI note-taker dashboard. Go to your account settings, find the Auto-join or AiMeeting section, and toggle the default setting to "Manual" or "Meetings I manually select". This ensures the bot only joins when you explicitly invite it.
- Disconnect Your Calendar: If you want to stop the bot permanently, go to the Integrations or Connected Accounts section of your AI tool dashboard. Click disconnect next to your Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar, as recommended by Read.ai Support.
How to Block External Bots at the Platform Level
If you are a meeting host or an IT administrator, you can block third-party bots from entering your meetings entirely. This is the most effective way to protect zoom ai companion transcript privacy and prevent unauthorized recordings.
- Enable the Waiting Room: In Zoom or Teams, enable the Waiting Room or Lobby feature. This forces all incoming participants, including bots, to wait for host approval. You can then select "Deny Entry" for any bot.
- Block Specific Domains: In the Zoom web portal, navigate to Settings, select Security, and enable the option to block users in specific domains from joining meetings. Input domains such as "otter.ai", "read.ai", and "fireflies.ai" to block them automatically, a security measure highlighted by Stony Brook University IT Support.
How to Disconnect App Integrations Completely
To ensure that an AI note-taker no longer has access to your meetings or calendar, you must revoke its authorization at the root level.
- Uninstall from the Marketplace: Go to the Zoom App Marketplace or Teams Apps, navigate to your installed apps, and uninstall the AI note-taker.
- Revoke OAuth Access: Log into your Google or Microsoft account security settings. Navigate to third-party apps with account access and revoke access for the AI service. This step is necessary to break the cloud-to-cloud link permanently, as detailed by Chapman University Support.
