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ARTICLE · 09 SEPTEMBER 2026

AI-Powered Call Transcription Tools Present Class Action BIPA Risk

Taft, Stettinius & Hollister LLP
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AI-powered call transcription tools like Otter.ai are facing class action lawsuits under Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) for allegedly collecting voiceprints without proper consent. A federal court recently allowed claims to proceed, signaling potential legal risks for companies that provide or utilize these increasingly common meeting recording services.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Beau Braswell
Beau Braswell
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We have all become accustomed to seeing pop-up notices on our video calls saying that an AI-powered technology is recording us. Sometimes the AI service even appears as a participant. Notwithstanding how commonplace these features have become, a recent decision from a federal court in California may signal that such call transcription services present a risk of class action lawsuits.

In August 2026, a judge in the Northern District of California allowed several claims to proceed in a class action lawsuit against Otter.ai, an AI-powered video call recording and transcription service.1 Plaintiffs alleged that the company’s “Otter Notetaker” tool joins virtual meetings automatically, records and transcribes participants’ speech without obtaining consent, and retains the content of communications, voiceprints, and other personal information for its own commercial purposes. Plaintiffs alleged that these practices violate the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) and other

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