Transcribing Teams meetings — in line with GDPR.

Three ways to a transcript

For Microsoft Teams there are essentially three options:

• Teams’ own transcription. It works if your organisation has enabled it; all participants see a notice, and the transcript is then stored in Microsoft 365.
• A bot that joins the meeting. Many AI note-taking tools send their own participant into the call, which records and transfers the audio to the provider’s cloud.
• An app on your own computer. It records what arrives on your device — with no extra participant. That’s how juunote works: transcription runs locally, and the audio is discarded afterwards.

Not without consent

In Germany, recording private spoken words without the consent of those involved is a criminal offence (§ 201 StGB, German Criminal Code: confidentiality of the spoken word). Under data protection law, you need a legal basis under Art. 6 GDPR and must inform participants beforehand — who is recording, for what purpose and how long it will be stored.

In practice, this means: announce at the start that the meeting is being transcribed, and ask. Anyone who doesn’t agree is not recorded.

Where does the data go?

For any tool, it’s worth asking four questions:

• Where is the audio processed — on your device or on the provider’s servers?
• Is the audio stored, and if so, for how long?
• Is there a data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR)?
• In which country are the servers, and which subprocessors are involved?

The less data leaves the device, the easier it is to answer all four.

Involve the works council

Tools that are capable of monitoring employees’ behaviour or performance are subject to co-determination (§ 87(1) no. 6 BetrVG, German Works Constitution Act). If you have a works council, talk to it before rolling out a transcription tool for everyone — a works agreement gives everyone clarity.

Checklist before your first transcript

• Participants informed before the start and consent obtained
• Purpose defined: minutes, not performance monitoring
• Tool checked: where processing happens, retention period, data processing agreement
• Retention and deletion periods set for transcripts and minutes
• Data protection officer and, where applicable, works council involved
• Internal rule on who may see transcripts

How juunote handles it

juunote is designed to use as little data as possible: it doesn’t join any meeting, but records only the meeting app and your microphone on your computer. Transcription runs locally, and the audio is discarded afterwards. For the minutes, only text goes to the minutes AI; minutes are stored encrypted on your device. You’ll find the details on the security page.