I'm recording you - are you recording me?

Quite a while ago I started using Fathom (a Zoom bolt-on) to record my client calls.

As their technology has evolved to include A.I., nowadays, as well as a video recording of the call and a transcript, the client also receives a summary and action points.

It's like having a 21st Century super-secretary taking notes and, apart from struggling with the spelling of names, the summaries are pretty good and impress the client when they arrive some 90-seconds after the call concludes.

I know that Zoom now have their own A.I. companion and I'll no doubt eventually change over - we shall see.

However, what prompts this post is the relatively recent development of the client using their own recording, transcribing and summarising software, including Zoom, Fathom and Otter.ai.

Whether it's a one to one call or a client webinar, I'm now getting used to waiting to speak until all the various software packages have announced (in their tinny robotic voices) their intention to join.

So now I'm recording you, you are recording me and we all record together.

I suppose that's great for compliance purposes as the phrase "you said" can be clearly proven or disproven.

All of this has made me a little more careful about what I actually do say during calls and webinars - as the evidence can now be used to either attack or defend me should matters become problematic, controversial or litigious.

I'm going to admit that, in previous calls, I may have advised a client to (legally) terminate a misbehaving team member, having listened to a catalogue of their misdemeanours. Or suggested a change in business tactics or strategy based on my assessment of the client's situation and the wider market landscape.

I now consider what would happen if my reaction were played back during a tribunal or court case and where the responsibilities and liabilities would rest.

Opinions become facts when the A.I. systems are prowling in the background - perhaps some initiatives will be stifled, some opinions withheld.

Is this the advent of a new digital "F.O.M.M."?

I speculate as to how long before you must start a conversation with a patient, clinician or team member by agreeing to both parties recording?

I'm in mind of the scene is a spy movie in which our hero meets a contact on a park bench to avoid surveillance.

"I need to have a chat with you on something sensitive - I'll meet you outside."

Is privacy dead?