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This page covers when and how to use Granola (or any AI notetaker) in your meetings. It is not legal advice; recording and transcription laws vary by region so when in doubt, check with your own legal or IT team. It is best practice to make sure participants know when you use AI notetaking tools. This applies whether you’re on a video call, a face-to-face conversation, or dialling in from your phone. You can find more information on recording laws state by state here. Please note, this is a third-party resource and Granola is not responsible for the accuracy of third-party websites. Granola offers built-in ways to notify meeting attendees. Learn more about the features here.

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Guidelines for AI transcription

Check with your team admin or legal team on what types of meetings you can transcribe, as different companies have their own preferences based on scope and sensitivity. If you are transcribing and the conversation shifts into something sensitive mid-meeting, you can pause transcription and restart when the room is ready to continue. If something sensitive does get transcribed, you can always edit a Granola note and delete it.

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How Granola maintains privacy and transparency

  • Private by default. Your notes are only visible to you unless you choose to share them, no matter what type of meeting it is.
  • No audio retention on desktop. Granola transcribes in real time on macOS and Windows and doesn’t store the audio from meetings. If you have a meeting via mobile, Granola temporarily caches the audio but then only stores the transcript.
  • No LLM provider model training. Our agreements with sub-processors prohibit them from using your data for model training.
  • Clear in-meeting indicators. When enabled, Granola shows a watermark on the user’s camera and an automated message in the meeting chat that are visible to everyone in the meeting.

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Letting people know you’re using Granola

For virtual meetings, Granola offers ways to make it clear to participants that notes are being captured. See Let people know you’re using Granola to set it up just for yourself or across your workspace.

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Other questions

Granola for macOS and Windows doesn’t store audio, only the transcript. Granola for iPhone temporarily caches audio during the meeting — when transcription is completed, cached audio is deleted from all Granola and third-party systems.
No, your notes remain private unless you create or enable sharing links. Learn more about transcription in How transcription works.