what leaves your device
Every AI notetaker answers one question differently: where does your meeting audio go? Here is the honest map — with sources — as of July 2026.
| Product | Your audio | A bot in your call | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| now recording | Never leaves your device — recording and transcription run in your browser | Never — nothing joins the call | Only meeting TEXT syncs, and only if you sign in; summaries send transcript text (never audio) to a language model only when you ask |
| Granola | Sent to cloud transcription providers; transcripts to cloud AI models | No bot (desktop app) | Trains on anonymized user data by default per its security page (opt-out in settings); unattributed speaker blocks are its most-cited product complaint [architecture comparison] |
| Otter | Uploaded to Otter's cloud | OtterPilot bot joins calls | Facing a consolidated federal class action over non-consent recording and voiceprints; even Pro caps transcription at 1,200 minutes/month [lawsuit reporting] |
| Fireflies | Uploaded to Fireflies' cloud | Fred bot joins calls | Two biometric-privacy (BIPA) voiceprint suits; widely reported bots that keep joining after account deletion [lawsuit reporting] |
| Fathom | Uploaded to Fathom's cloud | Visible bot joins calls | No in-person capture and no file upload; the visible bot is the top objection for client-facing work [independent review] |
| Google Gemini notes | Processed in Google's cloud | Built into Meet (host-side) | Host/organizer-gated; single language per session; participants are notified — guests can't use it at all [Workspace announcement coverage] |
| Teams Copilot recap | Processed in Microsoft's cloud | Built into Teams (admin-gated) | Teams begins auto-blocking third-party notetaker bots in August 2026 — a browser-side recorder is unaffected [bot-block reporting] |
| Zoom AI Companion | Processed in Zoom's cloud | Built into Zoom (host-side) | Host-only and Zoom-only; accuracy is the recurring complaint in user reviews [independent review] |
| Krisp | On-device transcription exists — but is gated behind Enterprise pricing | No bot (desktop app) | What Krisp sells as Enterprise-only, everyone here gets free — it's our architecture, not our upsell [krisp.ai/pricing] |
Why this matters more every month
- Platforms are killing bots. Microsoft Teams starts automatically blocking third-party notetaker bots in August 2026. A recorder that runs in your own browser has nothing to block.
- Courts are pricing in cloud recordings. Otter faces a consolidated federal class action over non-consent recording; Fireflies faces two biometric-privacy suits over voiceprints. Audio that never leaves your device generates no voiceprints and leaves nothing to subpoena from a vendor.
- Professional-conduct guidance caught up. Bar guidance (e.g. NYC Bar Formal Opinion 2025-6) warns that cloud-processed meeting recordings can put confidentiality — and even privilege — at risk. On-device processing is the conservative answer.
Don't trust us — check us
- Open your browser's DevTools Network tab while recording: after the one-time model download, you'll see no audio going anywhere.
- The recorder shows a visible recording indicator, and one click copies an “I'm recording” disclosure for the meeting chat. Stopping is instant, and deleting a meeting deletes it — see your data.
- Details of what little we do store (meeting text, only if you sign in): the privacy policy.
Competitor details come from the linked public pages and reporting, as of July 2026. Products change — if something here is out of date, tell us at hello@nowrecording.com and we'll fix it.