Consent to record

Many laws and policies set rules for the recording of a meeting. This page explains who is responsible for consent when you use ācta. It gives practical ways to collect consent, and it explains the consent confirmation that your organization can require.

Why the rules differ

The rules for a recording depend on where you are and who you are. Check each of these sources before you record.

• The law of your country, state, or province. Some laws need the consent of one person in the conversation. Others need the consent of every person.
• The location of each participant. A person who joins from another place can bring the rules of that place.
• The rules of your governing body, such as bylaws, a charter, or open-meeting rules.
• The policies of your organization, and any contract or agreement with a client.
• Privacy law, where the recording holds personal data.

If you are not sure which rules apply, ask your legal adviser before you record.

Ways to collect consent

• Put a recording notice in the meeting invitation or the agenda.
• Say at the start of the meeting that you will record it, and ask for objections.
• Ask each participant to agree aloud, so the consent is part of the recording.
• Write the notice and the consent into the minutes.
• Repeat the notice for a person who joins late.

Require a consent confirmation

Your organization can require a consent confirmation before each recording. The setting is off by default. An organization admin turns it on in the organization settings, and it then applies to every workspace.

• Before a recording starts, the person who records sees your text and a checkbox. The recording cannot start until that person checks the box.
• The same confirmation applies before the upload of an audio file.
• You can write your own text for the confirmation screen. Use it for a script that the recorder must read aloud, or for instructions to the recorder.
• If you write no text, ācta shows a default statement that everyone in the meeting agreed to the recording.
• ācta keeps who confirmed, when, and the text that was shown. The confirmation appears in the minutes, the sealed PDF, the audit trail, and the view of an external auditor.
• A recording that continues after an interruption does not ask again.

If a person does not agree

Do not record the meeting, or stop the recording, until you resolve the objection. Your rules decide what happens next. You can continue without a recording and write the minutes by hand.

Recordings that you upload

The same responsibility applies to an audio file that you upload. Make sure that the recording was made with the notice and consent that your rules require.

What ācta does and does not do

• No bot joins your meeting. A person in the meeting starts the recording.
• ācta does not announce the recording to the participants.
• ācta does not ask the participants for consent. With the consent confirmation on, it keeps the statement of the person who recorded the meeting.
• Your organization sets how long ācta keeps a recording. The page Access your data explains the retention policy.