Guide · for advisers, HR and consultants
Meeting notes for regulated professionals
When your work answers to a regulator, a notetaker has two questions to pass before anything else: where does the record live, and who else could reach it. Recordist keeps the audio, the transcript and the notes on your own computer, joins no call, and by default asks before it records. The company that makes it never receives your calls, so there is no vendor copy of them for your compliance team to review. Recordist works this way, and we make it.
What makes it fit regulated work
By default it asks before it records, and with the built-in engine everything after the microphone happens on the computer in front of you.
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The record stays on your computer.
Audio, transcripts, notes and the search index are kept in one data folder on your computer. Recordist never uploads audio and sends no telemetry, and there is no Recordist server that could hold a recording.
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Nothing joins the call.
It records your computer's own microphone and the sound it plays, so nothing is added to the participant list, whoever hosts the call.
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It asks first.
When a call starts, a small card asks: Record this meeting? Nothing is recorded from a detected call until you click Record, and the list of apps that record without asking is empty until you add one.
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A record you can play back.
Press the time beside any line and hear it in the voice that said it, while the audio is kept. You choose how long that is; the default is 30 days.
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Notes written on the computer.
The built-in notes engine writes the summary, the decisions and the action items on your computer. With it, no request takes meeting content off the computer.
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A ledger of what leaves.
The Privacy Ledger in Settings → Privacy records the app's network requests with the time, the host, the purpose and the bytes sent. A request that can carry meeting content is written there before it is sent.
Your approved AI, if you have one
Notes are written by the built-in engine unless you choose otherwise. If your organisation has already approved Anthropic or an OpenAI-compatible service, add its key in Settings → AI notes. Recordist calls that provider straight from your computer, with no Recordist server in between, and keeps the key in the operating system's keychain, never in a settings file.
Each notes request carries that meeting's transcript text, title, attendee names, date and the template. Audio never goes. Every request is written to the Privacy Ledger before it is sent, with where it goes and its size, so the record of what left is on the same computer as the meeting.
What IT can set, and Recordist enforces
On a Mac your organisation manages, IT sets policy with a configuration profile from its MDM. Recordist enforces only values delivered as forced managed preferences, so a preference someone sets for themselves never becomes policy, and it shows each managed control locked, with a "Managed by" note.
- Where notes are written
ForceLocalModelkeeps every note on the computer, andDisableCloudAIKeysturns the cloud providers off.- How long the record is kept
MaxRetentionDayscaps how long audio and whole meetings are kept.LegalHoldkeeps every meeting in Recordist, and refuses deletion in the app with a sentence that names your organisation.- Who can start a recording
DisableAutoRecordAppskeeps the automatic-recording list empty, andDisableAgentRecordingkeeps connected agents from starting one, so the card asks before every detected call.- Where copies can go
DisableAudioExport,DisableAutoExportandAllowedExportFolderdecide whether audio leaves the app and where exported notes are saved.
Managed settings has a sample profile, a schema for Jamf Pro and every key.
How to talk to compliance
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Start with your own policy.
If your firm has a policy on recording or on AI notetakers, it comes first. Your rules decide what may be recorded, what must be kept, for how long and where. Recordist keeps each record on the computer that made it, for as long as its settings say, so check that against your rules first.
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Send the reviewer summary.
The summary for IT, security and legal reviewers answers the questions a review asks, in one page: where data is stored, what the app sends over the network, retention and deletion, legal holds, consent and what IT can set. Send it unchanged, or copy it as text into your firm's review form.
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Use a note that is already written.
Ask IT for Recordist has three short notes, for your manager, for IT and security, and for legal and compliance, ready to edit and send from your own email. We don't see them.
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Propose a small pilot.
Try it on an internal meeting first. Agree how long audio, transcripts and notes are kept, and set Keep audio files and Delete meetings after to match. Leave the automatic-recording list empty and use the built-in notes engine. Keep taking your usual notes alongside, and check the notes against the recording before they go into any other system.
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Tell the people on the call.
Nothing joins the call, so they know about the recording from you. The card reminds you that you are responsible for getting consent where it is required, and recording law by place has the rule where you and they are.
For your profession
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Advisers and consultants
Client calls written up on your computer, with the follow-up drafted and checked against the transcript. Notes for consultants
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HR and recruiting
Interviews and one-on-ones, with notes that do not rate, rank or recommend anyone. For HR and recruiting
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Lawyers
For client matters we suggest waiting for now. The page says why, and what Recordist does for a practice today. For lawyers
Recordist isn't made for clinical sessions or for calls where a client's health is discussed; the page for therapists explains why.
Questions
Does anything about my calls reach Recordist?
Do the other people on the call know it is recording?
Can we use the AI provider we have already approved?
Can IT keep every note on the computer?
ForceLocalModel keeps notes on the computer, and DisableCloudAIKeys turns the cloud providers off. A refused provider is greyed out in Settings → AI notes with a "Managed by" note, and the built-in engine writes the notes instead. Managed settings has a sample profile and every key.How long is a recording kept, and what about a legal hold?
MaxRetentionDays caps both, and LegalHold keeps every meeting in Recordist until the key is removed.What should I send our compliance team?
Related: the AI notetaker privacy checklist, for the questions to ask of any notetaker, and Security, for how the app is built.
Notes come from an AI model and can be wrong, so the app keeps the audio for you to check them against. Anthropic, OpenAI and Jamf Pro are trademarks of their owners, named only to identify their products. This page is general information and not legal or regulatory advice. If something here is out of date, write to support@recordist.app and we will correct it.