The Ask-First Recording Policy

01 Why your company needs the rule

On October 15, Amazon started selling the Bee Frontier, a wristband you can also clip to your shirt, for $74.99. It listens to the conversations around you and turns them into summaries and to-do lists in an app. Any of your employees can buy one, and wear it into a client meeting or a performance review.

Buying one is legal. The question is what the person wearing it does. Federal law (Title 18, section 2511) says it isn't unlawful to record a conversation you're a party to, or when one party has given prior consent: that's one-party consent. States can be stricter. Four examples from the statutes:

State What it asks Stakes

California Consent of all parties to record a confidential conversation, in person or by phone A violation

Florida All parties give prior consent A third-degree felony

Washington Everyone in a private conversation; an announcement that is itself recorded counts Consent by announcement

Michigan All parties to a private conversation A felony, up to 2 years or $2,000

Not legal advice. This is a starting draft for your lawyer to review, not a guarantee. It isn't the full list of states: check yours, and the states your clients are in. What counts as "confidential" or "private" is for a lawyer to decide.

02 The five-line policy

It fits on one page. Copy it, fill in the brackets, and send it to your lawyer before you share it with the team.

Recording at work: staff policy

RECORDING AT WORK: [COMPANY NAME], effective [DATE]

1. Who may use one. Staff [may / may not] wear a personal recorder at work. Approved devices: [LIST, or "none"].

2. Ask first, out loud, every time. At the start of any conversation you record, say: "I use a recorder for notes. Is that okay with everyone?" Record only after everyone says yes, and keep the yes on the recording.

3. Where it never goes. HR meetings, performance reviews, legal conversations, medical or financial details, anything a client marked confidential, and any conversation you are not part of.

4. Where the notes live. App: [APP]. Account: [COMPANY ACCOUNT]. Who can delete them: [ROLE]. How long we keep them: [PERIOD]. Never connect it to a personal inbox or a personal shopping account.

5. When it goes wrong. Stop recording, tell the person, delete the summary, and write down what happened. Report it to [ROLE].

Reviewed by: [LAWYER], [DATE]

03 The ask-first script

Say it at the start, before anything worth recording is said:

"I use a recorder for notes. Is that okay with everyone?"

Get a yes from everyone, not silence. On a call, that includes the client's side. Keep the yes on the recording. Washington's statute asks for exactly that: the announcement, recorded. If anyone hesitates, turn it off and take notes by hand.

Why it matters even where it's legal: a coworker who finds out they were recorded, or a client who finds out afterward, doesn't care which statute applied. They care that nobody asked.

04 Before you approve a device

Three situations to bring to your lawyer:

The client call. Your rep sits in a one-party state and the client is in California. Which state's law applies is a question for a lawyer; the policy's answer is the same either way: ask, every time. The room. The federal exception is written for someone who is a party to the conversation. A wearable that picks up the two people at the next desk has no party and no consent. The notes. Amazon says no audio is stored, but the transcript and the summary are kept in the app, and they can connect to Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook and Amazon.com.

And the questions Amazon hasn't answered yet: what the Frontier does with the people around you who aren't on a call (its permission prompt is described for calls), and whether there are controls for a company that wants to manage these.

Fill in the five-line template. Decide who may use one and which devices.

Send it to your lawyer. Name your state and your clients' states.

Pick the company account for notes. Never a personal inbox or shopping account.

Share the ask-first script with the team. The exact words, said out loud.

List the meetings where it never goes. HR, reviews, legal, medical, financial.

Try it in your own planning meeting first. Where everyone knows and says yes.

Sources

Amazon: Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse TechCrunch: Amazon's Bee launches two new personal AI devices 18 U.S. Code § 2511 Supreme Court of California, S260391 Florida Statutes 934.03 Washington RCW 9.73.030 Michigan MCL 750.539c

Mathew's LibraryLibrary card

Free access

Keep reading free with your library card

One email opens this template and all 86 resources in Mathew's library. No account, no password.