WhichNoteTaker

Note takers that don't auto-join your meetings

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A common complaint about AI note takers isn't the notes. It's that the bot turns up in meetings nobody asked it to join, and then emails the notes to everyone on the invite. In public threads we read, HR and legal people described exactly that. Most meeting bots can be told to stay out unless you invite them, and to keep notes private. A few tools never join at all.

Quick answer

Auto-join and auto-share settings (as of 2026-10-26)

Each cell is what the vendor's own help page says. "Not stated" means we didn't find it on the pages we read. Setting names change; check the help page before you rely on a menu path. Rows are in alphabetical order, not ranked.

ToolJoins calendar meetings by itself? (per vendor)How to stop it (per vendor)Sends notes to others? (per vendor)
FathomAuto-record options: "All Meetings", "External Meetings", "Internal Meetings" or "No Meetings". Default: not stated. Admins can set organization and team defaultsSettings, first drop-down: "No Meetings" ("all Fathom recordings must be initiated manually")Post-meeting share options: "Summary & recording", "Summary only" or "Nothing"
Fireflies"Under Auto-join calendar meetings, Fireflies is set to All meetings by default"Settings > Recording & Privacy > turn off "Auto-record meetings", or set auto-join to "Only when I invite fred@fireflies.ai". Fireflies says it "may still join meetings according to your configured meeting rules"Recap email "By default, this is set to Everyone on the invite" (internal and external). Options include "Only me"
GranolaGranola says "No bot joins your meeting" and "other participants will not see any additional attendee". It records from your device's microphone and system audioNothing to switch off: there's no botNot checked
OtterAuto-join options: "Meetings with a video link", "Meetings where I am the host", external only, internal only, or "Meetings I manually select". Default: not statedMeetings tab > AI Notetaker settings > "Meetings I manually select". Events you toggled by hand keep their own settingAuto-share options: all event guests, same-domain guests, Workspace members, or "Don't Share". Optional "pre-recording emails" tell guests the Notetaker will join
tl;dv"Auto-record calendar events": "All meetings" (tl;dv says this includes meetings "even if you don't attend"), "Selected meetings" or "No meetings". Default: not statedPersonal preferences > Automations > "No meetings". tl;dv says you can also deny the bot entry at the start of a meetingNot checked

Advisor tools have the same kind of setting. Zocks says that by default it "auto-joins all virtual meetings with 10 or fewer people invited". Jump's compliance settings let an admin choose "Never automatically attend users meetings" ("Notetaker only joins when explicitly invited"), "Always automatically attend users meetings" or "Allow users to select". Wealthbox says its "Auto-Join setting enables the notetaker to automatically join your scheduled meetings that have supported virtual meeting links". GReminders says user settings "define how you want Notetaker to join your meetings (Automatically or Manually)", and that to keep it out of a single call you "toggle the switch" next to that event. All checked 2026-10-26. Details on the financial advisors page.

Before you change anything

Recording laws: tell people first. Federal law and most states let you record a conversation you're part of. About 11 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Washington, generally require everyone's consent, and a few states mix the rules. Oregon, for example, requires that everyone in an in-person conversation be told it's being recorded, while phone calls need one person's consent (RCFP guide, ORS 165.540). If people are in different states, the stricter law may apply. Rules outside the US differ too, and many employers, schools and clinics have their own policies. A meeting bot showing up in the participant list is a notice, not consent. The same goes for a "this call may be recorded" greeting: it may not tell people that an AI service is transcribing or summarizing the call, so name the AI note taker when you ask. This is general information, not legal advice. If you're unsure, ask a lawyer where you live.

A simple way to ask. Start recording first, so your announcement is captured on the recording (Washington law requires that). Then say:

"Quick heads-up: I'd like to record this and use an AI note taker to transcribe it, so I don't miss anything. The recording and notes are stored with [tool name]. Is everyone OK with that?"

Wait for a clear yes from each person. If anyone says no, stop and delete what you captured. For meetings with outside guests, also put a line in the invite: "This meeting may be recorded and transcribed by an AI note taker. Let me know beforehand if you'd prefer it isn't."

What we did and didn't do

We read the help pages below on 2026-10-26. We didn't sign in to any of these tools or change any setting, so we can't confirm the menus look exactly like this on your account. The reader concerns above come from public threads we read in October 2026; we don't quote, link or name anyone.

Sources (checked 2026-10-26)

Changes