Otter.ai Sued for Allegedly Recording Work Calls With out Consent

Otter.ai, the maker of AI-powered transcription and note-taking instruments, is going through a class-action lawsuit in California over alleged privateness violations.

The swimsuit, filed Friday in federal courtroom by San Jacinto resident Justin Brewer, claims that Otter.ai is recording personal conversations with out acquiring consent from all of the calls’ members after which makes use of these recordings to coach its AI. In accordance with the criticism, Brewer doesn’t have an Otter account however joined a Zoom assembly in February the place the corporate’s Otter Notetaker software program was operating. He says he had no concept the service would seize and retailer his information or that the decision could be used to coach Otter’s speech recognition and machine studying fashions.

The lawsuit particularly targets Otter Notetaker, the corporate’s device that information and transcribes Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Groups calls in actual time.

Usually, if somebody with an Otter account joins a digital assembly, the software program asks the host for permission to document the decision, however it doesn’t robotically examine with everybody else within the name. The lawsuit additionally claims that if the host has built-in Otter with their Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Groups accounts, an Otter Notetaker bot can slip into the assembly with out getting specific consent from anybody on the decision, not even the host.

“Crucially, Otter doesn’t acquire prior consent, specific or in any other case, of individuals who attend conferences the place the Otter Notetaker is enabled, previous to Otter recording, accessing, studying, and studying the contents of conversations between Otter accountholders and different assembly members,” says the criticism, first reported by NPR. In accordance with the swimsuit, this violates state and federal wiretap and privateness legal guidelines.

It additionally alleges that customers’ conversations are getting used to coach Otter’s AI fashions for the “monetary profit” of the corporate.

“Whereas we’re reviewing the matter, you will need to notice that Otter doesn’t provoke recordings by itself. Recording solely happens when initiated by an Otter person, and our Phrases of Service clarify that customers are liable for acquiring any crucial permissions earlier than doing so,” a consultant from Otter.ai informed Gizmodo in an emailed assertion.

The lawsuit pushed again in opposition to that argument, accusing Otter of dodging duty by shifting its authorized obligations onto its account holders.

Otter.ai was based in 2016 as AISense and has since grown to greater than 25 million customers and surpassed $100 million in annual recurring income. However even earlier than this lawsuit, customers had been already voicing issues.

In one case final yr, an AI researcher stated Otter recorded a Zoom name with traders and later despatched him a transcript that included “intimate, confidential particulars” mentioned after he had already left the assembly.

Politico additionally reported that its China correspondent reportedly found that Otter shares user data with third parties after utilizing the service throughout an interview with a Uyghur activist.