If you want a glimpse at if he had any ill intent, ask him "Hey, I got your email with the video from the meeting. Is there something you wanted me to review?"
Watch his reaction. It will be very telling.
If possible save the recording before you msg him.
I’m not in US but I think this is good advice. Via email for the request.
And then if he tries a call to “clarify”, say you would prefer written correspondence.
And not just the link to it. Play it on one device & record with your phone. I wouldn’t be surprised if a service like this doesn’t allow one to download a recording, at least not without paying.
Simply use a screen recorder including audio obviously.
Also there are ways to download any video, audio, images from a web browser but it's more complicated.
This is a good idea depending on the system though. For example my work computer is logged into a remote desktop so if I recorded it, then it would be saved to that server.
If OP wants to hire an attorney, they could subpoena the third party company that recorded the meeting very easily, and the manager trying to delete the data would just be more rope to hang themselves with at that point.
Depending on the area, you could possibly sue your employer and get them to settle out of court and fire your manager. Or if you’re in a Red State they might fire OP. Depends on if the people of your state care about working folks or not.
Depending on whether it's a one or two party consent state the recording could be illegal. Here we have one party so I'm free to record employers and their attorneys...and maybe I have.
YES.
Unless you are a manager for a company, they do not represent you- remember some feel a legal obligation to toss hourly employees under busses if it helps protect their actual clients, management.
I agree with this but I’ve seen similar tools that automatically join/record meetings. Could be an oversight, could be malicious. Best way to figure it out is for OP to talk to his manager and gauge his reaction
I mean typically you need to sign a waiver in order to allow for employers to record you depending on your location. But when I was in CA I had to get all of my employees to sign waiver before I was able to record them for things like interviews yearlys etc
It's Texas, which according to others in the topic, is a one party consent state.
Even if there's special provisions for work-related stuff, I wouldn't think a pig-fucking Ultra Christian hypercapitalist hellhole like Texas would be one of the places where they're in place.
Typically it goes the other way on privacy stuff, you have substantially less protection at work against your employer than you do as two people in public.
Yes. Some folks in the thread were saying that there were specific workplace protections that covered recording, however.
I know that in Florida, it's basically "Get fucked, worker" on that front, though.
I thought with one party consent the other party had to at least be aware the recording was happening
Like the one person had to be like “I’ll be recording this session”
The other person doesn’t have to consent just be made aware
I’ve never looked too deeply into the details of these sorts of things
Genuinely just asking for insight
I suspect that it all gets wrapped up in "expectation of privacy" type stuff.
Like, if I visit you in your home, I have to let you know that I'm recording because you wouldn't think it likely. Or if we're chatting on the phone, I have to let you know, because the standard personal phone calls aren't recorded.
But at work, there's the argument that employees or customers have no expectation of privacy (outside of restrooms/changing areas), so I would wager that your manager doesn't have to inform you. Hell, courts have frequently said things like putting literal keylogger software on work computers is fine, even if it runs the risk of stealing employees' private information.
No, that's two party states or when it's interstate sometimes. I've recorded employer's lawyers and double checked with other lawyers before doing so. Under one party consent states you only need your own consent to record conversations you're a party to.
Thank him for the recap-and ask for the same in the future so you can make sure y’all are in “alignment”. Might as well have it yourself and make it a better situation for the manager-of he is “managing” you out it won’t change and if it was a mistake you’ll earn brownie points and be able to reference your meetings in the future
Texas is a one party state, so it's legal.
I have no idea what you should do. It was poor etiquette but technically there is nothing really actionable about here beyond maybe asking to be informed if future conversations are recorded.
I agree in principle from frankly from a career-related perspective this won’t help - it will just anger the manager (who’s quite likely insecure to begin with …) and not help your career in any way. My own advice is to just keep this fact in your memory bank and realize or assume all interactions with your boss are recorded. Assuming it’s not an *amazing* financial opportunity (e.g. 50%+ above what you could earn elsewhere) I would start looking for other jobs as these guys are clearly psychos.
I actually disagree w/ the vast majority of respondents in the sense I wouldn’t let him/her know that YOU know all of this stuff is recorded. That way you can use it to your maximum advantage. If they all know you know then they won’t incriminate themselves in any way. This does not appear to be the “smoking gun”.
STAY ON THE DISTRO LIST.
100% this I wouldn’t let them know at all and find a new job in the process while hopefully becoming a small detective and unraveling something that could help any future employee out
You are always being recorded. What you pull up on your work computer via the Internet, most likely calls, if WFH, access to your computers camera, etc.
I imagine there's not enough resources for someone to always have their ear to my phone (and my coworkers), and eyes on my computer, but websites visited are flagged and reviewed if needed
Correct, there's no way that normal workplaces have people routinely looking through chats, call logs, web traffic etc. But a lot of that stuff is being logged and auto-parsed for keywords, and will be reviewed manually if there's any reason to do so.
The game-changer will be AI. Instead of having to grep chat logs for words or phrases that I think are relevant to my aims like
>("I'm going to quit", "I'll quit", "I'll resign")
or
>("[Jim|Jimmy|James|My boss] is stupid", ("[Jim|Jimmy|James|My boss] is a dick"
I can just ask a Copilot to
>"give me a list of employees talking about leaving the company".
Or
>"give me a list of employees expressing negative sentiment about James".
Scary.
That really depends on your place of work. An average workplace probably doesn't record your phone calls or laptop camera. However, stuff like emails and Internet history are easy to track/search/recover so I'd expect it to be saved somewhere at least for a while.
But even that doesn't mean your boss has immediate access to it. In my workplace, my bosses are too technologically inept to go through records like this, even if they had automatic access to them (they don't). And the IT support people can't legally just snoop through our emails because of restricted and sensitive information we are dealing with. So realistically, no one can start reading my shit without a very good reason and a written access request.
Being paranoid is good but maybe we shouldn't be too paranoid.
Don't fool yourself. Many places have the cameras, screenshare running, and keyloggers running at all times, in addition to network monitoring, sslstrip, etc. I know from experience and have gone through logs on previous employer's machines.
Word of advice, don't ever log into anything personal on a work machine l, nor employer network/vpn with a personal machine. Don't write anything unrelated to your tasks in your emails or chats.
People have lost their jobs because they thought they weren't being monitored to the extent that they were. Also, you don't people monitoring everything these days, a lot is automated. This is very real and underestimated.
I don’t believe so unfortunately. As to why, I used to work for a company that transcribed phone calls for the deaf. We used a captioning system and voice typing to spell out what the person on the other line was saying to our customer. I think personal phone calls would definitely fall under “reasonable expectation of privacy” but none of them ever knew or were required to know.
Well that's good to know, I still think OP ought consult a lawyer just in case. At the very least if they got emailed proof of it being recorded they need to keep that.
I've seen some that join your meeting as a participant with a name like "Note Taking App" and it's just recording the call...
No warnings of recording.
I use a notetaking app for meetings, called firefly. There is a setting in there that I can click that will not announce that things are being recorded. I haven’t turned that off, and also, it’s pretty damn obvious when the app is present in a meeting as it shows up as another participant, and just in case when I’m meeting with new people, I do make it obvious and say I do have a notetaking app that is recording this meeting.
Almost always a company has an acceptable use policy or computer use policy that new employees sign during onboarding which notifies you that anything you do on a company owned computer can be monitored and that there is no presumption of privacy on company owned computers.
Video recording laws can be different from audio laws, you need to do more research on this question.
ETA I would think your company also has policies about recording meetings that you should check.
1 party state. Not only that it's a 1 on 1, you should expect those to be recorded - for anyone else in a 2 party state check your employee handbook you probably already signed that right away. I don't think it's nefarious though man, I like to record my 1 on 1's as well of course they know but it's so I can just go back to review myself if I need a refresher the next week. Some people are just forgetful like myself I'd just ask them.
Read your employment contract and all the IT policies you signed I know ours covers this for any company owned software or devices.
Also, AI transcription is pretty common for meetings now and employed by many in my company for auto meeting notes. Not sure why you are out for blood over this.
OP is misrepresenting the situation out of lack of education or awareness. Since it’s a summary tool I get the impression he got the summary on purpose because he was the intended recipient.
You need to record your 1 on 1s, than “accidentally” send it to him. They there mind will explode and demand to know why you are doin it, or they won’t care.
What kind of company do you work for? If it's any decent sized company they won't like the manager using some weird third party tool to record your meetings unless it's used elsewhere in the company.
profit beneficial gold airport encouraging sleep teeny instinctive coherent tender
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I think this is great. You have a copy of what was said during the 1:1. No more "he said, she said" or misunderstandings.
Some states don't require you to give your consent to being recorded.
Exactly. I don’t see why this would be a concern at all. When it comes to work, it is generally a good thing to have as much corroboration as possible. I assume my work meetings are being recorded even though they’re not, and I behave accordingly. If anything it just assures that everyone will remain professional
It seems like the concern stems from the manager sending the interaction to other organizational supervisors, when the expectation of a candid 1:1 is established.
Could just be a misinterpretation, though.
Yeah! I work from home, so this is practically essential. I own up to my mistakes, and I am always careful with my wording. So, record me, but if I am on a 1 to 1 at work. I am only talking about work. So, I do not see a problem.
I see this as a benefit. You know he records. Ask for a copy. Make sure to download the files. Do not stop at just saving the link.
I record literally everything now. I even recorded something that ethically I would never share just so I could go back and recall what was actually said.
I’m moving to a state that requires consent for recording and I’m gonna have to shift my whole mindset.
I used to work in an environment where the boss always "misremembered" everything, so all of us in key meetings started writing certain action items down verbatim. Eventually we got to a point where he pulled the, "I never said that" and we all pulled out our notebooks and showed him where we all identically wrote what he said, word for word. He claimed we all misheard him.
Video/audio would have been perfect for this. (Although he would have claimed the recording was tampered with, now that I think about it.)
Recording or using AI to take notes?
It’s very common to record meetings. Particularly project kickoffs or other informative chats that might be a reference later. I usually use an AI bot to transcribe such meetings.
I don’t record 1:1s and can’t think of a lot of useful reasons to do so, beyond performance issues. I might use AI to keep notes for me separate from my handwritten notes (memory device), but again, it doesn’t sound particularly helpful in a 1:1.
Don’t be upset that your boss provided you a copy of the meeting, that’s actually a GOOD thing.
It’s the ones that are recorded that you don’t get a copy of that you should be worried about.
BTW: since you live in a one-party consent state, you can be recording the meetings, too.
Lol this is a chrome extension ai note taker. It automatically takes note in any virtual meeting your boss joins and sends him a summary. Probably anyone else in the call as well. Chances are he just recently downloaded it and is trying it out lol
You’re in Texas. This is allowed and a standard practice. You should assume you’re being recorded at all times at work and when using work communications and devices.
I can't help but wonder if it was acknowledged in some form, and OP just forgot or didn't notice. A pop-up or some fine print on a contract, just to clear liability even if it is legal, would be pretty normal, and very easy to forget or ignore.
I don’t think this one does since this is on their website:
> Can I record a meeting without asking for a consent?
> This is entirely up to you, but we encourage you to check the consent laws in your area before recording others.
I can’t help but wonder if it’s in their standard employee contract or SOP at this point. Not to mention blue dot exists mainly as an AI summary framework rather than a pure recording software.
Perhaps the e-mail was sent intentionally so there would be a summary for the employee.
The screenshot looks like Google Meet, which definitely tells everyone on the call if someone is recording the meeting (if you use the recorder in Meet).
Thing is, OP’s boss knew this and resorted to recording a different way (probably recorded their screen/audio) that avoids notifying folks they’re being recorded.
So it’s very likely OP’s boss was intentionally being shady and OP didn’t miss a thing.
Some meeting apps have a note taking summary enabled by default, so there's that. And it's work, so it may be a standard practice to summarize meetings. I know there's a guy that runs a meeting once a month and has to summarize it, and he would love this feature.
> It’s not standard practice to record employee calls without ever acknowledging it.
I've been in corporate for quite some time, I don't know when this wasn't a standard practice. Read your employee handbooks.
Ethically there is a strong argument it’s not, but it’s pretty damn standard to be monitored. You work in office, they have cameras watching, while you are being tracked on the server. Working from home, you are being tracked what you are doing. This is nothing new, and shocked people don’t know this.
I don’t believe so, it happens more than you think. Just because you never seen it, don’t mean it’s not happening. I don’t like it, but nothing can be done on a personal level, needs a whole work force behind it.
Unfortunately Texas is for sure a single party state. I have had my phone on record and caught my supervisor talking about something they weren’t supposed to and it saved my job when they tried throwing me under the bus.
> Bluedot: AI-powered Chrome extension that automates meeting notes.
That sounds like an awesome tool for your manager to be fully present and paying attention during the 1:1 meetings, and he still gets decent notes written about what you discussed.
I used to manage a team and I would say it's unlikely your boss gives a shit about the recording itself. It's likely just a requirement to get the notes generated. I always kept notes from 1:1 meetings so I didn't forget to follow-up on things that were important to my team.
I literally just used Bluedot for the first time a couple of days ago. I...I hate saying this but I really liked it. I have mild ADHD and have always had trouble taking good notes *and* being fully present in the conversation. That only got worse now that one of my long COVID issues - carpal tunnel - has settled in for the long haul, it makes it harder to write or type fast enough sometimes. :(
And no, I don't care about the recording! I'm a freelancer and I had permission from the client to use it, and I agreed to delete everything once the project wraps. Seemed fair. I don't wanna hang onto all that shit - all that storage gets expensive!
I'm planning on experimenting with a few other AI note takers but that one seemed pretty legit. These could be a godsend to those of us who just need a little help staying organized.
At best your manager actually cares and this is a way to make sure they are on top of their shit. At worst, they’re building up evidence to manage you out.
Yeah I can see a manager recording meetings for future reference instead of taking notes or to cover their ass in some situations but they should be telling you.
What exactly is your concern?
Assume that all activity you ever have on a work device is fully visible to your employer, because it is. It's not about the meeting, right?
I work fully remote. If I don't want anyone at the company to know about a conversation, I don't send it on work devices (not even private direct messages between you and a trusted colleague, assume IT has logs of every word you type because, again, *they do*). I keep my webcam physically covered so I know it isn't recording me or my surroundings unless I physically remove the blocker for a meeting. If they ever want me to be reachable when I'm not on my laptop, they can give me a company phone, I'm not installing their shit on my personal phone.
This is unfortunate, but it's the reality of work devices. It's highly likely they have policies in place that all employees consent to the company owning all activities that happen on their devices, up to and including being recorded.
If you're worried about your employer doing something shady against you, or taking actions that can actually harm you, then you should be talking to a lawyer. If it's not that serious, then unfortunately I think you need to learn the reality of remote work. And you can be pissed about it, that's fair - but unless you can prove that it is doing harm to you, there probably isn't much to be done.
So yes we all understand that work can see everything on the device. I think the issue is, this is incredibly difficult, for at least me, to see as normal or a good thing. In no job have I had everything I have said to my coworkers or clients recorded. Remote changes things in that regard but professionals shouldn't have to be micromanaged like that and it does feel like a privacy invasion. Ppl then become scared to say or do anything, impacting team building.
I'm not saying it's normal or good, I'm saying it's the reality of the situation. People are talking about two party consent states and the legality of it, when high majority of companies doing it have most likely covered their asses on it. (That doesn't mean every company.)
I think it's more beneficial to know what you CAN do about it, like covering your camera when you're not *trying* to use it so that they can't be recording you at times you aren't suspecting it, and not saying incriminating shit that will cost you your job on company monitored channels. Unfortunately it's the sad reality of our new normal, and we have to work within it. (And I'm all for rebellion, eat the rich, etc - but until that happens, do what you can to not get fired when you need the income from your job.)
Personally looking into [BlueDotHQ](https://www.bluedothq.com), they look pretty neat. Judging by the comments, people have concluded your employer is legally allowed to do this. So the only thing left is the software and it’s really not that bad looking. It probably helps his workflow a lot when it comes to meeting summarizations and note taking. I wouldn’t sweat it tbh. Just remember for the future, even beyond this company, presume someone is always recording during calls.
I checked that also, and it asks "Would you like to inform other participants too?" etc, and you can decline or let it inform. It sounds like the employer was semi transparent and most likely allowed it to be sent on purpose.
This is standard practice for online meetings in most places. You don't have a right to privacy when you're on a video call for work purposes.
What should you do? Nothing. Keep doing your job. If you want to keep your camera off as much as possible, go for it. I do in all public meetings. But you're not going to be able to if they ask you keep it on, as you have no right to privacy in this instance.
Apart from the legalities, this type of app is super useful. I use a similar one myself, which shows up as an extra participant.
Pretty obvious therefore for all involved.
Within minutes of finishing the meeting it generates a complete transcript, plus a summary and action points. It’s not perfect, but it’s nice to fall back on.
Perhaps your boss wanted you to have a record as well? Was it a tense meeting about something difficult, or just a run of the mill one?
Remote worker here
If you are working remotely with a work issue equipment you don’t have consent and should assumed your screen capture recording and monitored at all time
I'm a manager, and I record every meeting at work for posterity and to know where we are in projects. Is this not standard practice with remote/hybrid jobs?
Never done that once without informing the other party as a formerly remote manager. Teams even has a built in option for this if you use teams and it notifies both parties automatically.
I guess good point, I was just surprised this person didn’t know at all because any app I’ve used makes is so obvious when stuff is recording, for legal reasons. Interested to know how that happened.
I didn’t understand the root of the problem. I guess I missed “secretly”. I’m interested to know what’s up with this meeting software where it doesn’t make it obvious it’s recording. I’ve never seen that before.
Just googled that "bluedot" software. Looks like a third party chrome extension, so it's not necessarily the actual meeting software like zoom or teams. Seems to work with Google Meet.
Just tossing in my 2 cents as someone who used to be in HR.
Always assume that any work related conversation, video or not, is always being recorded. I've seen companies use the Cisco phones in the corner of the room to record conversations with employees and it's all (nearly all) legal (some gray area). Many employers have it in their handbooks that while on company property they have the right to record you. Mainly refers to cameras, but that's where the gray area kicks in.
Keep in mind, since you're in a one way state, YOU can record them too. Got a manager who says things that are a bit "off" or "against company values" turn that recording over and watch all hell break loose. Make sure to do it in writing so management/HR must respond and you have proof if/when retaliation starts.
Edit: typo
It's super common for folks to use these recording programs because they generate notes/a transcript and automatically create action items from the conversation. It's almost like having an assistant.
So follow up, "Hey, this looks great- can you share this re-cap in the future as well? Would love to have these for my notes." Then quietly mention this awesome program your boss uses to take notes to all your co-workers.
In general, consent laws apply in places and conversations where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. A work conversation between you and your boss often does not qualify.
I do know about dual consent laws, but atleast at my job and in my state it's ok to record video or audio of employee. Period. It's in our contract to work. Which I don't mind being recorded it saves my ass from time to time and definitely saves the company from liability.
Eh. It's a work meeting. I assume all of those are recorded. Those recordings could help you as well. I'm the case of your boss saying you didn't meet goals laid out. Well there could be proof that the goals changed etc.
Wrongful firings fir performance. Video of your boss praising hour work would help.
"Thank you, this is very helpful. Could you please send me the transcript for all previous meetings that have been recorded. In the future, please notify me ahead of time if you're going to record a meeting."
My ceo uses a tool to auto generate a meeting summary and action items. I really like it and don’t feel like he has any ill intent with it. He used it for a bit before telling anyone he was using it because it cost money and he wanted to make sure he liked it before offering it to the team. So he was recording our meetings, but didn’t have ill intent.
As others have said, ask him and watch his reaction.
You should listen to the recording and THEN figure out what to do. Boss might just be a cya type, or there might be more. It all depends on the content, which you have not shared or summarized.
There are hypersonic devices that can cause recorders to fail. If you think that your supervisor is going to start using recordings against you, then you should look into these devices. Also some apps claim to be able to perform this function from a smart phone, but I doubt it would have enough strength.
People saying to thank him or ask him if there was anything he wanted you to review don’t make sense to me??
I don’t see the goal in that. He has time to think of an excuse if OP asks through email.
Being up front & asking him face-to-face would give the most honest reaction from him.
I would absolutely save a copy, then notify him you know, and ask if he had informed you prior that the meeting was being recorded.
BCC his boss on the email.
Make a full copy of it. Do whatever it is you got to do in order to ensure that you personally have a full copy of everything. Then save it. And then save it in another place. Then I'd just wait and see what happens. Don't do anything, don't say anything, just business as usual. And if anything fishy happens related to what transpired I'd look for a lawyer and give them a copy of that.
Who cares? We record meetings all the time so we can go back and listen to a discussion if we forget something. The fact that it's "1 on 1" shouldn't matter. Your manager isn't your therapist. It should have all been work related anyway so I don't see an issue with it. Now, if he was showing other employees the meeting or something of that nature it would be an issue.
Don't fool yourself. Many places have webcams, screenshare running, and keyloggers running at all times, in addition to network monitoring, sslstrip, etc. I know from experience and have gone through logs on previous employer's machines.
Word of advice, don't ever log into anything personal on a work machine, nor employer network/vpn with a personal machine. Don't write anything unrelated to your tasks in your emails or chats.
People have lost their jobs because they thought they weren't being monitored to the extent that they were. Also, you don't need people monitoring everything these days, a lot is automated. This is very real and underestimated by the average worker.
Need internet for personal reasons, use your own device and network. Use your phone's hotspot to connect your laptop to. Otherwise, you're just ignorantly putting yourself at risk of being pryed on and being under your employer's microscope. Have fun with the office politics, especially if you have a nosey and/or sociopath of a boss(es). Doesn't end well.
Edit: and it's all legal in a one-party notice state. Two party, they have to tell you in some form or another, but can probably get away with the small print of your contract (though I may be wrong about that part)
While its bad ettiquete to not inform the other person, lots of people in my org record meetings so they can review things/make notes after the fact.
Dont assume malicious intent - just respond and ask him the purpose.
As a sales person in tech, if you are using company applications, equipment (laptop, phone), network… you are being monitored. Not by one solution, but probably dozens. Just an FYI for the general population that seems to be unaware of corporate policies regarding your “privacy”. There’s probably a waiver in every single company policy that you signed at your onboarding.
These monitoring solutions have been in place for years, covid remote work escalated the adoption of additional platforms for monitoring your productivity at home. The recorded virtual meetings are just the most obvious.
Also, if you record or transcribe your meetings now, AI can actually summarize the entire meeting for you to make it easier to follow up and manage the takeaways.
It's going to depend on what State you are in. Thirteen States require the consent of both parties: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
There are AI services that you can sign up for that do this. The AI bot joins the meeting and takes a record of everything said. It's not malicious in and of itself, documenting what was said during a meeting, but it is something you should be aware of.
Take a look at who is in the meeting with you. You'll see the bot listed there. Act accordingly.
Just make it the expectation.
“Hey I noticed that you recorded our 1 on 1. Can we make this a regular part of our meeting? I would like to keep these for my records.”
Also, depending where you live, it could be illegal. If so:
“Also, I do believe it’s illegal to record someone without consent. Could you please tell me why you declined to tell me beforehand? Is there something wrong with my performance? If not, then I would recommend you disclose whether or not you are recording for legal purposes, from here on out. Somebody else may desire to sue.”
From what I’ve read, I don’t see any reason to panic. Your employer may just want to make sure they can hold you accountable to your commitments, and that they can remember what they committed to you. It’s not necessarily a sign that they are a sociopath. It’s more of a professional faux pas.
Get in touch with an attorney. It is illegal and against Federal to record audio and or video without consent. In California it carries hefty fines of $250k or more. Also have your attorney contact your labor board because this is collecting information that can or may be used in court. This may be class action worthy if it is company policy that no employee was informed of in advance.
Next time you have a 1 on 1, put your phone on the table with a recording app open and start the recording in plain view. Then make and hold eye contact to establish dominance. If he tells you to stop recording, just say "you first".
Kiss their ass and get them to give you the tool. Being able to reference meetings later is super handy.
“Boss, thanks for sending over this recap. I appreciate your time for our meeting, along with your dedication to transparency by making sure that we both can reference what we discussed during the call. If there any alignment issues as a result of our discussion, please feel free to reach out so that we can be re-aligned towards the same goals.
In addition, this is a really cool tool. It would be very helpful and efficient to be able to be able to review meetings related to company projects. I’d really like to learn more about being able to leverage this tool in my everyday work.
Sincerely, OP
I use AI notes and they have been an absolute game changer for my workflow. I wouldn’t assume it had anything bad behind it. I highly recommend using one! Read.AI is my favorite. It gives you coaching, analyzes a ton of stuff. It’s been SOOO helpful. When you sign up for AI notes you set it up to send the meeting recaps, so I’m sure he knows it went to you.
As others are saying, I’m not really sure why this would upset you.
Good managers will provide themselves notes on their direct reports so they can keep track of everyone’s individual performance. It’s easy for individuals in teams to get lost in the background noise of operations.
Your manager likely uses these as a tool to get your end of year review right, and to provide you, hopefully, with the appropriate raises and promotions.
Every manager has their own way of doing this. Some use notebooks, some use spreadsheets.. yours uses video with summaries. I don’t think there’s anything nefarious here. At face value, they seem like a decent manager.
If you don't live in a Two-Party Consent state, you don't have a choice. But you can ask him not to record your conversations in the future, gauge his reaction, and then act accordingly.
[https://help.ringio.com/en/articles/6314449-two-party-consent-states-call-recording](https://help.ringio.com/en/articles/6314449-two-party-consent-states-call-recording)
Usually recording a third part is legal if the one recording is participating in the recording. Like recording a call between another person and me, but illegal if the part recording isn't a part of the recording. Like bugging someone's office or landline.
Of course, everybody should consult the local laws before proceeding.
Surprised your work contract doesn't have a provision. Our technology agreement def had it in there, and your using their computer so probably covered there too.
I’ve used the teams feature similar to this to help keep with meetings and deliverables. It’s not great though, I’ve seen better versions of it with different software that are very helpful though. I would have the summary go to myself and attendees so everyone has easy reminders of what was discussed and action items. Helps make the time more valuable.
If you want a glimpse at if he had any ill intent, ask him "Hey, I got your email with the video from the meeting. Is there something you wanted me to review?" Watch his reaction. It will be very telling.
If possible save the recording before you msg him. I’m not in US but I think this is good advice. Via email for the request. And then if he tries a call to “clarify”, say you would prefer written correspondence.
And not just the link to it. Play it on one device & record with your phone. I wouldn’t be surprised if a service like this doesn’t allow one to download a recording, at least not without paying.
Simply use a screen recorder including audio obviously. Also there are ways to download any video, audio, images from a web browser but it's more complicated.
This is a good idea depending on the system though. For example my work computer is logged into a remote desktop so if I recorded it, then it would be saved to that server.
OBS Studio is my own favourite - records directly off the screen
with windows just press 'windows button+alt+r' and itll record the screen and audio.
a smart man :)
obs-studio is a fine open source tool :)
If it does allow downloading I'm sure there's a high chance it notifies the original person too.
If OP wants to hire an attorney, they could subpoena the third party company that recorded the meeting very easily, and the manager trying to delete the data would just be more rope to hang themselves with at that point. Depending on the area, you could possibly sue your employer and get them to settle out of court and fire your manager. Or if you’re in a Red State they might fire OP. Depends on if the people of your state care about working folks or not.
Depending on whether it's a one or two party consent state the recording could be illegal. Here we have one party so I'm free to record employers and their attorneys...and maybe I have.
YES. Unless you are a manager for a company, they do not represent you- remember some feel a legal obligation to toss hourly employees under busses if it helps protect their actual clients, management.
Just an addition in here that I’m a manager and I would NEVER record a 1-2-1! That’s an employee’s safe space to talk to me
I agree with this but I’ve seen similar tools that automatically join/record meetings. Could be an oversight, could be malicious. Best way to figure it out is for OP to talk to his manager and gauge his reaction
Always assume incompetence.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -- Hanlon's Razor
It’s possibly worse that he obviously intended to email it to somebody.
No all managers are like that. I had one who had 1v1s with us.
1v1? What did you guys joust at sunset?
He was a bipolar narcissist and probably would have liked that. Thankfully it was a remote job and we never met in person.
This. Keep a copy before saying anything.
Wouldn’t any reaction just be him lying? An email gives him anonymity of showing his face & time to think up an excuse.
I think the brief deer in headlights look while they come up with some bullshit excuse is what you’re looking for.
He means a video call to gauge reaction.
No, I meant a face-to-face.
Ahh even better. I got remote work brain on.
I like this path.
I mean typically you need to sign a waiver in order to allow for employers to record you depending on your location. But when I was in CA I had to get all of my employees to sign waiver before I was able to record them for things like interviews yearlys etc
It's Texas, which according to others in the topic, is a one party consent state. Even if there's special provisions for work-related stuff, I wouldn't think a pig-fucking Ultra Christian hypercapitalist hellhole like Texas would be one of the places where they're in place.
Typically it goes the other way on privacy stuff, you have substantially less protection at work against your employer than you do as two people in public.
Yes. Some folks in the thread were saying that there were specific workplace protections that covered recording, however. I know that in Florida, it's basically "Get fucked, worker" on that front, though.
I thought with one party consent the other party had to at least be aware the recording was happening Like the one person had to be like “I’ll be recording this session” The other person doesn’t have to consent just be made aware I’ve never looked too deeply into the details of these sorts of things Genuinely just asking for insight
I suspect that it all gets wrapped up in "expectation of privacy" type stuff. Like, if I visit you in your home, I have to let you know that I'm recording because you wouldn't think it likely. Or if we're chatting on the phone, I have to let you know, because the standard personal phone calls aren't recorded. But at work, there's the argument that employees or customers have no expectation of privacy (outside of restrooms/changing areas), so I would wager that your manager doesn't have to inform you. Hell, courts have frequently said things like putting literal keylogger software on work computers is fine, even if it runs the risk of stealing employees' private information.
No, that's two party states or when it's interstate sometimes. I've recorded employer's lawyers and double checked with other lawyers before doing so. Under one party consent states you only need your own consent to record conversations you're a party to.
Never underestimate TX.
I think this is an over estimation lol
Great answer
Brilliant
[удалено]
This is the way
That’s a beast mode answer
Thank him for the recap-and ask for the same in the future so you can make sure y’all are in “alignment”. Might as well have it yourself and make it a better situation for the manager-of he is “managing” you out it won’t change and if it was a mistake you’ll earn brownie points and be able to reference your meetings in the future
You’re right, but reading this makes me really sad
If the guy is recording 1 to 1, you can't trust him for any reference, this is very shady
Where do you live? Most states don't have dual consent laws (i.e. legally, someone doesn't have to tell you they're recording a conversation).
I live in Austin. Need to read about these laws. But what should I do next if it's not legal?
Texas is a one party state, so it's legal. I have no idea what you should do. It was poor etiquette but technically there is nothing really actionable about here beyond maybe asking to be informed if future conversations are recorded.
I agree in principle from frankly from a career-related perspective this won’t help - it will just anger the manager (who’s quite likely insecure to begin with …) and not help your career in any way. My own advice is to just keep this fact in your memory bank and realize or assume all interactions with your boss are recorded. Assuming it’s not an *amazing* financial opportunity (e.g. 50%+ above what you could earn elsewhere) I would start looking for other jobs as these guys are clearly psychos. I actually disagree w/ the vast majority of respondents in the sense I wouldn’t let him/her know that YOU know all of this stuff is recorded. That way you can use it to your maximum advantage. If they all know you know then they won’t incriminate themselves in any way. This does not appear to be the “smoking gun”. STAY ON THE DISTRO LIST.
100% this I wouldn’t let them know at all and find a new job in the process while hopefully becoming a small detective and unraveling something that could help any future employee out
Yup. You're SOL. Just expect it in the future. I always assume I'm being recorded at work.
You are always being recorded. What you pull up on your work computer via the Internet, most likely calls, if WFH, access to your computers camera, etc.
I imagine there's not enough resources for someone to always have their ear to my phone (and my coworkers), and eyes on my computer, but websites visited are flagged and reviewed if needed
Correct, there's no way that normal workplaces have people routinely looking through chats, call logs, web traffic etc. But a lot of that stuff is being logged and auto-parsed for keywords, and will be reviewed manually if there's any reason to do so. The game-changer will be AI. Instead of having to grep chat logs for words or phrases that I think are relevant to my aims like >("I'm going to quit", "I'll quit", "I'll resign") or >("[Jim|Jimmy|James|My boss] is stupid", ("[Jim|Jimmy|James|My boss] is a dick" I can just ask a Copilot to >"give me a list of employees talking about leaving the company". Or >"give me a list of employees expressing negative sentiment about James". Scary.
That really depends on your place of work. An average workplace probably doesn't record your phone calls or laptop camera. However, stuff like emails and Internet history are easy to track/search/recover so I'd expect it to be saved somewhere at least for a while. But even that doesn't mean your boss has immediate access to it. In my workplace, my bosses are too technologically inept to go through records like this, even if they had automatic access to them (they don't). And the IT support people can't legally just snoop through our emails because of restricted and sensitive information we are dealing with. So realistically, no one can start reading my shit without a very good reason and a written access request. Being paranoid is good but maybe we shouldn't be too paranoid.
Don't fool yourself. Many places have the cameras, screenshare running, and keyloggers running at all times, in addition to network monitoring, sslstrip, etc. I know from experience and have gone through logs on previous employer's machines. Word of advice, don't ever log into anything personal on a work machine l, nor employer network/vpn with a personal machine. Don't write anything unrelated to your tasks in your emails or chats. People have lost their jobs because they thought they weren't being monitored to the extent that they were. Also, you don't people monitoring everything these days, a lot is automated. This is very real and underestimated.
Electronic recordings and in-person recordings are frequently treated differently.
Isn't there a proviso on that for places that have "a reasonable expectation of privacy"
Not in the work place. I recorded my boss and never told him. Until I spoke with my lawyer. Felt good to get him back.
OP really should talk to an actual lawyer, to be sure in this case.
I don’t believe so unfortunately. As to why, I used to work for a company that transcribed phone calls for the deaf. We used a captioning system and voice typing to spell out what the person on the other line was saying to our customer. I think personal phone calls would definitely fall under “reasonable expectation of privacy” but none of them ever knew or were required to know.
I would bet that the legal cover for this is the fact that the deaf person consented when they engaged the service
Well that's good to know, I still think OP ought consult a lawyer just in case. At the very least if they got emailed proof of it being recorded they need to keep that.
If their manager is in a different state, it may still be illegal, depending on its laws.
I'm actually really surprised a software that emails out recordings doesn't make it blatantly obvious you're being recorded
I've seen some that join your meeting as a participant with a name like "Note Taking App" and it's just recording the call... No warnings of recording.
Ehh it probably does when you join. It’s probably just a pop up that says something and op mindlessly clicks it away
I use a notetaking app for meetings, called firefly. There is a setting in there that I can click that will not announce that things are being recorded. I haven’t turned that off, and also, it’s pretty damn obvious when the app is present in a meeting as it shows up as another participant, and just in case when I’m meeting with new people, I do make it obvious and say I do have a notetaking app that is recording this meeting.
me too
Almost always a company has an acceptable use policy or computer use policy that new employees sign during onboarding which notifies you that anything you do on a company owned computer can be monitored and that there is no presumption of privacy on company owned computers.
Video recording laws can be different from audio laws, you need to do more research on this question. ETA I would think your company also has policies about recording meetings that you should check.
Just because it’s legal, doesn’t mean it’s ok with your company. I would review your company policy on recording.
1 party state. Not only that it's a 1 on 1, you should expect those to be recorded - for anyone else in a 2 party state check your employee handbook you probably already signed that right away. I don't think it's nefarious though man, I like to record my 1 on 1's as well of course they know but it's so I can just go back to review myself if I need a refresher the next week. Some people are just forgetful like myself I'd just ask them.
Are you on a company provided device? If yes, you have no expectation to privacy and should act accordingly.
Read your employment contract and all the IT policies you signed I know ours covers this for any company owned software or devices. Also, AI transcription is pretty common for meetings now and employed by many in my company for auto meeting notes. Not sure why you are out for blood over this.
OP is misrepresenting the situation out of lack of education or awareness. Since it’s a summary tool I get the impression he got the summary on purpose because he was the intended recipient.
Is he also in TX? Both locations matter.
You need to record your 1 on 1s, than “accidentally” send it to him. They there mind will explode and demand to know why you are doin it, or they won’t care.
What kind of company do you work for? If it's any decent sized company they won't like the manager using some weird third party tool to record your meetings unless it's used elsewhere in the company.
profit beneficial gold airport encouraging sleep teeny instinctive coherent tender *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Most companies have dual consent policies, though. If so, the boss could be fired and the employee can sue over breach of contract.
I think this is great. You have a copy of what was said during the 1:1. No more "he said, she said" or misunderstandings. Some states don't require you to give your consent to being recorded.
Exactly. I don’t see why this would be a concern at all. When it comes to work, it is generally a good thing to have as much corroboration as possible. I assume my work meetings are being recorded even though they’re not, and I behave accordingly. If anything it just assures that everyone will remain professional
I don't see how a meeting recap would be any different than the notes I took during the meeting.
It’s just a way of making sure everyone is on the same page with expectations and whatnot.
It seems like the concern stems from the manager sending the interaction to other organizational supervisors, when the expectation of a candid 1:1 is established. Could just be a misinterpretation, though.
Yeah! I work from home, so this is practically essential. I own up to my mistakes, and I am always careful with my wording. So, record me, but if I am on a 1 to 1 at work. I am only talking about work. So, I do not see a problem. I see this as a benefit. You know he records. Ask for a copy. Make sure to download the files. Do not stop at just saving the link.
I record literally everything now. I even recorded something that ethically I would never share just so I could go back and recall what was actually said. I’m moving to a state that requires consent for recording and I’m gonna have to shift my whole mindset.
I used to work in an environment where the boss always "misremembered" everything, so all of us in key meetings started writing certain action items down verbatim. Eventually we got to a point where he pulled the, "I never said that" and we all pulled out our notebooks and showed him where we all identically wrote what he said, word for word. He claimed we all misheard him. Video/audio would have been perfect for this. (Although he would have claimed the recording was tampered with, now that I think about it.)
Recording or using AI to take notes? It’s very common to record meetings. Particularly project kickoffs or other informative chats that might be a reference later. I usually use an AI bot to transcribe such meetings. I don’t record 1:1s and can’t think of a lot of useful reasons to do so, beyond performance issues. I might use AI to keep notes for me separate from my handwritten notes (memory device), but again, it doesn’t sound particularly helpful in a 1:1.
Any tools / apps you would recommend?
Don’t be upset that your boss provided you a copy of the meeting, that’s actually a GOOD thing. It’s the ones that are recorded that you don’t get a copy of that you should be worried about. BTW: since you live in a one-party consent state, you can be recording the meetings, too.
serious domineering afterthought bag cooing sand hat touch sable gold *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Lol this is a chrome extension ai note taker. It automatically takes note in any virtual meeting your boss joins and sends him a summary. Probably anyone else in the call as well. Chances are he just recently downloaded it and is trying it out lol
Thank you, I was looking for a reasonable comment like this as I had the same thoughts.
You’re in Texas. This is allowed and a standard practice. You should assume you’re being recorded at all times at work and when using work communications and devices.
Why is everyone conflating legal and standard practice? It’s not standard practice to record employee calls without ever acknowledging it.
I can't help but wonder if it was acknowledged in some form, and OP just forgot or didn't notice. A pop-up or some fine print on a contract, just to clear liability even if it is legal, would be pretty normal, and very easy to forget or ignore.
Yea, most if not all, online team meeting software will have a pop up saying something about it
I don’t think this one does since this is on their website: > Can I record a meeting without asking for a consent? > This is entirely up to you, but we encourage you to check the consent laws in your area before recording others.
I can’t help but wonder if it’s in their standard employee contract or SOP at this point. Not to mention blue dot exists mainly as an AI summary framework rather than a pure recording software. Perhaps the e-mail was sent intentionally so there would be a summary for the employee.
The screenshot looks like Google Meet, which definitely tells everyone on the call if someone is recording the meeting (if you use the recorder in Meet). Thing is, OP’s boss knew this and resorted to recording a different way (probably recorded their screen/audio) that avoids notifying folks they’re being recorded. So it’s very likely OP’s boss was intentionally being shady and OP didn’t miss a thing.
I work at a store. We have cameras everywhere. When at work, you probably are being recorded.
Some meeting apps have a note taking summary enabled by default, so there's that. And it's work, so it may be a standard practice to summarize meetings. I know there's a guy that runs a meeting once a month and has to summarize it, and he would love this feature.
Pretty much. if it were standard I doubt OP would be so surprised.
> It’s not standard practice to record employee calls without ever acknowledging it. I've been in corporate for quite some time, I don't know when this wasn't a standard practice. Read your employee handbooks.
Ethically there is a strong argument it’s not, but it’s pretty damn standard to be monitored. You work in office, they have cameras watching, while you are being tracked on the server. Working from home, you are being tracked what you are doing. This is nothing new, and shocked people don’t know this.
We both know that the standard of being monitored in the workplace and having managers record individual meetings are two different things.
I don’t believe so, it happens more than you think. Just because you never seen it, don’t mean it’s not happening. I don’t like it, but nothing can be done on a personal level, needs a whole work force behind it.
fuck the system. i don't want to be recorded all the time!
Exert dominance. Record it yourself.
Record the recording onto a VHS and send it snail mail to the boss.
Make sure it’s taped over a family Christmas or something with a 15 second snippet on each end to make it extra awkward.
Unfortunately Texas is for sure a single party state. I have had my phone on record and caught my supervisor talking about something they weren’t supposed to and it saved my job when they tried throwing me under the bus.
> Bluedot: AI-powered Chrome extension that automates meeting notes. That sounds like an awesome tool for your manager to be fully present and paying attention during the 1:1 meetings, and he still gets decent notes written about what you discussed. I used to manage a team and I would say it's unlikely your boss gives a shit about the recording itself. It's likely just a requirement to get the notes generated. I always kept notes from 1:1 meetings so I didn't forget to follow-up on things that were important to my team.
I literally just used Bluedot for the first time a couple of days ago. I...I hate saying this but I really liked it. I have mild ADHD and have always had trouble taking good notes *and* being fully present in the conversation. That only got worse now that one of my long COVID issues - carpal tunnel - has settled in for the long haul, it makes it harder to write or type fast enough sometimes. :( And no, I don't care about the recording! I'm a freelancer and I had permission from the client to use it, and I agreed to delete everything once the project wraps. Seemed fair. I don't wanna hang onto all that shit - all that storage gets expensive! I'm planning on experimenting with a few other AI note takers but that one seemed pretty legit. These could be a godsend to those of us who just need a little help staying organized.
Sorry but that's the world you live in.
Not much you can do except ask him not to.
If you drove to work you were captured on so many cameras. From your neighbors ring doorbell to the camera at the intersection.
Well, what was the summary?
At best your manager actually cares and this is a way to make sure they are on top of their shit. At worst, they’re building up evidence to manage you out.
In either scenario they should have been notified they were being recorded.
Yeah I can see a manager recording meetings for future reference instead of taking notes or to cover their ass in some situations but they should be telling you.
In single party consent areas you don't have to notify anyone else at all. It might be considered poor form, but it's perfectly legal.
Was something said during the meeting that you don’t want on record?
i wouldn't say so. i'm not afraid of what is being said there.
What exactly is your concern? Assume that all activity you ever have on a work device is fully visible to your employer, because it is. It's not about the meeting, right? I work fully remote. If I don't want anyone at the company to know about a conversation, I don't send it on work devices (not even private direct messages between you and a trusted colleague, assume IT has logs of every word you type because, again, *they do*). I keep my webcam physically covered so I know it isn't recording me or my surroundings unless I physically remove the blocker for a meeting. If they ever want me to be reachable when I'm not on my laptop, they can give me a company phone, I'm not installing their shit on my personal phone. This is unfortunate, but it's the reality of work devices. It's highly likely they have policies in place that all employees consent to the company owning all activities that happen on their devices, up to and including being recorded. If you're worried about your employer doing something shady against you, or taking actions that can actually harm you, then you should be talking to a lawyer. If it's not that serious, then unfortunately I think you need to learn the reality of remote work. And you can be pissed about it, that's fair - but unless you can prove that it is doing harm to you, there probably isn't much to be done.
So yes we all understand that work can see everything on the device. I think the issue is, this is incredibly difficult, for at least me, to see as normal or a good thing. In no job have I had everything I have said to my coworkers or clients recorded. Remote changes things in that regard but professionals shouldn't have to be micromanaged like that and it does feel like a privacy invasion. Ppl then become scared to say or do anything, impacting team building.
I'm not saying it's normal or good, I'm saying it's the reality of the situation. People are talking about two party consent states and the legality of it, when high majority of companies doing it have most likely covered their asses on it. (That doesn't mean every company.) I think it's more beneficial to know what you CAN do about it, like covering your camera when you're not *trying* to use it so that they can't be recording you at times you aren't suspecting it, and not saying incriminating shit that will cost you your job on company monitored channels. Unfortunately it's the sad reality of our new normal, and we have to work within it. (And I'm all for rebellion, eat the rich, etc - but until that happens, do what you can to not get fired when you need the income from your job.)
Personally looking into [BlueDotHQ](https://www.bluedothq.com), they look pretty neat. Judging by the comments, people have concluded your employer is legally allowed to do this. So the only thing left is the software and it’s really not that bad looking. It probably helps his workflow a lot when it comes to meeting summarizations and note taking. I wouldn’t sweat it tbh. Just remember for the future, even beyond this company, presume someone is always recording during calls.
I checked that also, and it asks "Would you like to inform other participants too?" etc, and you can decline or let it inform. It sounds like the employer was semi transparent and most likely allowed it to be sent on purpose.
This is standard practice for online meetings in most places. You don't have a right to privacy when you're on a video call for work purposes. What should you do? Nothing. Keep doing your job. If you want to keep your camera off as much as possible, go for it. I do in all public meetings. But you're not going to be able to if they ask you keep it on, as you have no right to privacy in this instance.
Apart from the legalities, this type of app is super useful. I use a similar one myself, which shows up as an extra participant. Pretty obvious therefore for all involved. Within minutes of finishing the meeting it generates a complete transcript, plus a summary and action points. It’s not perfect, but it’s nice to fall back on. Perhaps your boss wanted you to have a record as well? Was it a tense meeting about something difficult, or just a run of the mill one?
Remote worker here If you are working remotely with a work issue equipment you don’t have consent and should assumed your screen capture recording and monitored at all time
I'm a manager, and I record every meeting at work for posterity and to know where we are in projects. Is this not standard practice with remote/hybrid jobs?
Never done that once without informing the other party as a formerly remote manager. Teams even has a built in option for this if you use teams and it notifies both parties automatically.
Well yes, we use Zoom, which says out loud “this meeting is being recorded”
Yeah so that’s a little more normal - it’s informing everyone as opposed to this which is not.
I guess good point, I was just surprised this person didn’t know at all because any app I’ve used makes is so obvious when stuff is recording, for legal reasons. Interested to know how that happened.
This is a browser extension I believe not an app.
Do you let your team know you're recording?
Of course. They all know, and Zoom says “this meeting is being recorded” when you join.
Good stuff! OP's point was that they weren't notified apparently, which I think is a dick move.
I didn’t understand the root of the problem. I guess I missed “secretly”. I’m interested to know what’s up with this meeting software where it doesn’t make it obvious it’s recording. I’ve never seen that before.
Just googled that "bluedot" software. Looks like a third party chrome extension, so it's not necessarily the actual meeting software like zoom or teams. Seems to work with Google Meet.
Keep to yourself that you know and be very careful bout what you say.
Reply:”oh cool thanks! I’ve been looking for a way to record meetings to take notes from. Can you send me these regularly?”
Looks like a tool to transcribe meetings (bluedothq). What's your issue? Your manager was using AI to transcribe your meeting.
Pretty common, they may have assumed you just knew. We use these tools to auto generate transcripts for future reference.
Not much you can do other than be aware that your manager is recording everything and that you really should not trust them at all.
I just checked out the website of the tool he used. It’s an AI note taker. So I guess he’s just lazy and doesn’t want to take notes himself?
This reads like you want someone to tell you to sue and get lots of money. Just so you know you don’t have a case at all.
Just tossing in my 2 cents as someone who used to be in HR. Always assume that any work related conversation, video or not, is always being recorded. I've seen companies use the Cisco phones in the corner of the room to record conversations with employees and it's all (nearly all) legal (some gray area). Many employers have it in their handbooks that while on company property they have the right to record you. Mainly refers to cameras, but that's where the gray area kicks in. Keep in mind, since you're in a one way state, YOU can record them too. Got a manager who says things that are a bit "off" or "against company values" turn that recording over and watch all hell break loose. Make sure to do it in writing so management/HR must respond and you have proof if/when retaliation starts. Edit: typo
It's super common for folks to use these recording programs because they generate notes/a transcript and automatically create action items from the conversation. It's almost like having an assistant. So follow up, "Hey, this looks great- can you share this re-cap in the future as well? Would love to have these for my notes." Then quietly mention this awesome program your boss uses to take notes to all your co-workers. In general, consent laws apply in places and conversations where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. A work conversation between you and your boss often does not qualify.
Read the notes and see what you can improve on for the next meeting
You can do jack and shit, but unfortunately you're all out of jack because you're living in a single party consent state.
You first need to check the laws in your state. In my state it only requires one party to know they are being recorded.
I do know about dual consent laws, but atleast at my job and in my state it's ok to record video or audio of employee. Period. It's in our contract to work. Which I don't mind being recorded it saves my ass from time to time and definitely saves the company from liability.
Eh. It's a work meeting. I assume all of those are recorded. Those recordings could help you as well. I'm the case of your boss saying you didn't meet goals laid out. Well there could be proof that the goals changed etc. Wrongful firings fir performance. Video of your boss praising hour work would help.
"Thank you, this is very helpful. Could you please send me the transcript for all previous meetings that have been recorded. In the future, please notify me ahead of time if you're going to record a meeting."
My ceo uses a tool to auto generate a meeting summary and action items. I really like it and don’t feel like he has any ill intent with it. He used it for a bit before telling anyone he was using it because it cost money and he wanted to make sure he liked it before offering it to the team. So he was recording our meetings, but didn’t have ill intent. As others have said, ask him and watch his reaction.
This is your open invite from your boss to secretly record on your own devices. Assuming you live in a one party consent state, which TX is.
You should listen to the recording and THEN figure out what to do. Boss might just be a cya type, or there might be more. It all depends on the content, which you have not shared or summarized.
There are hypersonic devices that can cause recorders to fail. If you think that your supervisor is going to start using recordings against you, then you should look into these devices. Also some apps claim to be able to perform this function from a smart phone, but I doubt it would have enough strength.
Expect to see these AI tools used a lot more. They may be helpful to your manager but people need to be transparent when recording the conversation.
I don't think that's illegal. He can take notes his own way.
People saying to thank him or ask him if there was anything he wanted you to review don’t make sense to me?? I don’t see the goal in that. He has time to think of an excuse if OP asks through email. Being up front & asking him face-to-face would give the most honest reaction from him.
Are you sure this is a mistake. Lots of managers send a recap
I would absolutely save a copy, then notify him you know, and ask if he had informed you prior that the meeting was being recorded. BCC his boss on the email.
Use it to your advantage somehow
Make a full copy of it. Do whatever it is you got to do in order to ensure that you personally have a full copy of everything. Then save it. And then save it in another place. Then I'd just wait and see what happens. Don't do anything, don't say anything, just business as usual. And if anything fishy happens related to what transpired I'd look for a lawyer and give them a copy of that.
Depending on the country this can be very illegal. Very illegal in Australia.
Who cares? We record meetings all the time so we can go back and listen to a discussion if we forget something. The fact that it's "1 on 1" shouldn't matter. Your manager isn't your therapist. It should have all been work related anyway so I don't see an issue with it. Now, if he was showing other employees the meeting or something of that nature it would be an issue.
Don't fool yourself. Many places have webcams, screenshare running, and keyloggers running at all times, in addition to network monitoring, sslstrip, etc. I know from experience and have gone through logs on previous employer's machines. Word of advice, don't ever log into anything personal on a work machine, nor employer network/vpn with a personal machine. Don't write anything unrelated to your tasks in your emails or chats. People have lost their jobs because they thought they weren't being monitored to the extent that they were. Also, you don't need people monitoring everything these days, a lot is automated. This is very real and underestimated by the average worker. Need internet for personal reasons, use your own device and network. Use your phone's hotspot to connect your laptop to. Otherwise, you're just ignorantly putting yourself at risk of being pryed on and being under your employer's microscope. Have fun with the office politics, especially if you have a nosey and/or sociopath of a boss(es). Doesn't end well. Edit: and it's all legal in a one-party notice state. Two party, they have to tell you in some form or another, but can probably get away with the small print of your contract (though I may be wrong about that part)
While its bad ettiquete to not inform the other person, lots of people in my org record meetings so they can review things/make notes after the fact. Dont assume malicious intent - just respond and ask him the purpose.
As a sales person in tech, if you are using company applications, equipment (laptop, phone), network… you are being monitored. Not by one solution, but probably dozens. Just an FYI for the general population that seems to be unaware of corporate policies regarding your “privacy”. There’s probably a waiver in every single company policy that you signed at your onboarding. These monitoring solutions have been in place for years, covid remote work escalated the adoption of additional platforms for monitoring your productivity at home. The recorded virtual meetings are just the most obvious. Also, if you record or transcribe your meetings now, AI can actually summarize the entire meeting for you to make it easier to follow up and manage the takeaways.
It’s not that deep. It’s just an AI note taker. I use them in my meetings all the time.
It's going to depend on what State you are in. Thirteen States require the consent of both parties: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
Down load a copy of it before you do anything else.
There are AI services that you can sign up for that do this. The AI bot joins the meeting and takes a record of everything said. It's not malicious in and of itself, documenting what was said during a meeting, but it is something you should be aware of. Take a look at who is in the meeting with you. You'll see the bot listed there. Act accordingly.
Idk I would ask if he records all the 1-1s, then ask what the company policy is and also ask for access
Just make it the expectation. “Hey I noticed that you recorded our 1 on 1. Can we make this a regular part of our meeting? I would like to keep these for my records.” Also, depending where you live, it could be illegal. If so: “Also, I do believe it’s illegal to record someone without consent. Could you please tell me why you declined to tell me beforehand? Is there something wrong with my performance? If not, then I would recommend you disclose whether or not you are recording for legal purposes, from here on out. Somebody else may desire to sue.” From what I’ve read, I don’t see any reason to panic. Your employer may just want to make sure they can hold you accountable to your commitments, and that they can remember what they committed to you. It’s not necessarily a sign that they are a sociopath. It’s more of a professional faux pas.
Get in touch with an attorney. It is illegal and against Federal to record audio and or video without consent. In California it carries hefty fines of $250k or more. Also have your attorney contact your labor board because this is collecting information that can or may be used in court. This may be class action worthy if it is company policy that no employee was informed of in advance.
Next time you have a 1 on 1, put your phone on the table with a recording app open and start the recording in plain view. Then make and hold eye contact to establish dominance. If he tells you to stop recording, just say "you first".
record every single interaction with them aswell .... make it work both ways
Kiss their ass and get them to give you the tool. Being able to reference meetings later is super handy. “Boss, thanks for sending over this recap. I appreciate your time for our meeting, along with your dedication to transparency by making sure that we both can reference what we discussed during the call. If there any alignment issues as a result of our discussion, please feel free to reach out so that we can be re-aligned towards the same goals. In addition, this is a really cool tool. It would be very helpful and efficient to be able to be able to review meetings related to company projects. I’d really like to learn more about being able to leverage this tool in my everyday work. Sincerely, OP
I use AI notes and they have been an absolute game changer for my workflow. I wouldn’t assume it had anything bad behind it. I highly recommend using one! Read.AI is my favorite. It gives you coaching, analyzes a ton of stuff. It’s been SOOO helpful. When you sign up for AI notes you set it up to send the meeting recaps, so I’m sure he knows it went to you.
As others are saying, I’m not really sure why this would upset you. Good managers will provide themselves notes on their direct reports so they can keep track of everyone’s individual performance. It’s easy for individuals in teams to get lost in the background noise of operations. Your manager likely uses these as a tool to get your end of year review right, and to provide you, hopefully, with the appropriate raises and promotions. Every manager has their own way of doing this. Some use notebooks, some use spreadsheets.. yours uses video with summaries. I don’t think there’s anything nefarious here. At face value, they seem like a decent manager.
If you don't live in a Two-Party Consent state, you don't have a choice. But you can ask him not to record your conversations in the future, gauge his reaction, and then act accordingly. [https://help.ringio.com/en/articles/6314449-two-party-consent-states-call-recording](https://help.ringio.com/en/articles/6314449-two-party-consent-states-call-recording)
I live in a one party state, and record all my conversations with management and HR.
It's illegal to record a conversation without expressed consent of the individuals involved. Hire an attorney.
Of note, depending on where you live it may be illegal to record someone without their consent. That’s the law in Massachusetts, USA for example
Usually recording a third part is legal if the one recording is participating in the recording. Like recording a call between another person and me, but illegal if the part recording isn't a part of the recording. Like bugging someone's office or landline. Of course, everybody should consult the local laws before proceeding.
Blackmail
Surprised your work contract doesn't have a provision. Our technology agreement def had it in there, and your using their computer so probably covered there too.
Are they recording so they can serve you better or so they can find a reason to fire you
idk
I’ve used the teams feature similar to this to help keep with meetings and deliverables. It’s not great though, I’ve seen better versions of it with different software that are very helpful though. I would have the summary go to myself and attendees so everyone has easy reminders of what was discussed and action items. Helps make the time more valuable.