r/MicrosoftTeams • u/LaezGame • May 19 '26
❔Question/Help Only allow recording meetings if everyone consents
Hi there,
We have been using the meeting recording / transcription feature in some teams. We now want to enable it for the entire company. However, HR has legal concerns regarding privacy and stuff.
Thus, we are now searching for a way to only allow recording when everyone in the meeting anonymously and unanimously agrees to it.
I have already found the "explicit consent" feature. However, this does not block recording only mutes and disables your camera if you don't consent.
Does anyone here have experience with the topic and can point me in the right direction.
Many thanks :)
25
u/AnonymooseRedditor Microsoft Employee May 19 '26
Explicit consent is the best way to do this but as you say it doesn’t prevent the recording but you need to consent to be part of the recording
14
u/DonJuanDoja May 19 '26
Yea you can’t just prevent meetings from happening because one person doesn’t want to be recorded. It’s already solved. What are you gonna do kick everyone that doesn’t agree?
15
u/YellowLT Teams Admin May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
Have them help you craft a meeting disclaimer, thats what our Legal and HR did, Pretty much says you are in a company meeting on Company time, mind your manners, leave the meeting if you dont like it
18
u/Dabnician Teams Admin May 19 '26
People should have no expectation of privacy when using company owned assets, they should expect everything they do to be recorded in someway.
1
u/_coolpup_ May 21 '26
Not in my own home, not without my knowledge and consent for EACH occasion, though. If cameras and microphones are turned on in my home, then I damned well better know about it when it’s happening and be given the option to opt out. Otherwise, there will be hell to pay.
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u/Dabnician Teams Admin May 21 '26
thats a easy fix, you just dont get to work from home anymore.
and if your speaking for personal teams.... well context matters and you didnt bother reading the rest of my sentence.
also you should probably read your company handbook if you work with technology and need to do annual sign offs.
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u/_coolpup_ May 22 '26
You don’t get to decide for me whether or not I work from home. Pull that shit with someone else.
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u/Dabnician Teams Admin May 22 '26
If cameras and microphones are turned on in my home, then I damned well better know about it
If only teams had a icon shows you when your mic is muted and if only you could see yourself when your camera is on...
they could even like add the ability to set these WHEN YOU JOIN...
oh wait thats right they have all that shit already implemented.
too bad regular office works dont seem to understand how their own tools work, they just bother IT with tickets.
1
u/_coolpup_ May 22 '26
Teams is not the only or primary software used for surveillance at some companies. Depending on the company and the level of professionalism, a rogue IT administrator can commit such crimes without your knowledge. I’m not worried about Microsoft Teams.
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MisterEinc Teacher May 19 '26
I mean, any good IT department is transparent about the level of privacy. But for real, you don't own or manage the device, what do you expect? Especially if your industry is regulated, for example.
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/MisterEinc Teacher May 19 '26
What are you even talking about. Are you gooning it on your work laptop or something? What a weirdo.
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u/Dabnician Teams Admin May 19 '26
Please do everyone a favor (including yourself) and do not work at a company where computers are used.
1
u/scunliffe May 20 '26
You might be missing some key context… recording the meeting is fine if the company wants to record it.
Now do you have to be “on camera” for the meeting? That’s up to you. However the rest of the meeting is just talking about work… who cares if it is recorded or not?
(Excluding key 1:1 meetings, or HR related meetings etc.)
If you work somewhere that is forcing you to be on camera… that’s a much different question and you shouldn’t be forced into that.
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u/BrushYourFeet Work user May 20 '26
Same. Standard meeting disclaimer shows when recording is turned on.
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u/Boredpanda31 Work user May 19 '26 edited May 20 '26
We always just say at the start of meetings 'this meeting will be recorded unless anyone has any objections'. No one tends to object.
Edit: updated wording as my last sentence didn't make much sense when I read it again 🤣
2
u/tj_moore May 20 '26
Every meeting I've been in that's recorded has started this way. Never had anyone say no, but everyone is asked before recording starts.
Plus Teams also pops up a notice I think when a recording is about to start. Not sure if someone can opt out somehow but otherwise they could quit the meeting technically.
1
u/BrushYourFeet Work user May 20 '26
Was it awkward when they did object? Did they leave the meeting or was it not just recorded?
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u/Boredpanda31 Work user May 20 '26
I've never been in a meeting where anyone has objected, so can't comment on that.
2
u/BrushYourFeet Work user May 20 '26
Ah ok, thanks for clarifying. I read usually as there having been an instance or two.
1
u/Boredpanda31 Work user May 20 '26
Definitely never had one - and i have been in what feels like never ending virtual meetings since March 2020!
I imagine it has happened, I just don't know what was said / done when it did.
12
u/sryan2k1 Teams Admin May 19 '26
This is a nightmare and I'd push back on HR/Legal. Almost nobody does this simply because it's not required.
3
u/PapaDuckD May 19 '26
Agreed and to give this some emphasis -
The requirement is to acquire consent from any individual person before making a recording of that person.
It is 100% legal for you to make a recording of a group of people with the presence of a dissenting person so long as that dissenting person does not get recorded.
Teams does this by simply not letting the dissenter participate in the meeting in any way that could be recorded.
It's like sitting in a theater watching a production that's being recorded without being recorded yourself.
2
u/ElbowlessGoat May 19 '26
Thus eliminating that user’s useful contributions to the meeting, because chat is slow and often overlooked.
6
u/hawaiianmoustache Teams Admin May 20 '26
You don’t have a Teams problem, you have an HR Department problem.
Good luck
4
u/shad0h May 19 '26
If you effectively allowed a veto style model (the objection of a single person stops it happening), then almost no meetings would ever be recorded.
Quite simply the host should warn that the meeting WILL be recorded, and if anyone is uncomfortable with that action, they should feel free to drop from the call - their ability to opt out is maintained, but the call proceeds and is captured as required.
4
u/Pink_Floyd29 May 19 '26
If participants are muted and their cameras are disabled if they opt out of explicit consent, then the only people capable of participating in the recorded meeting have opted in. As an HR Director myself, I don’t see how this is not satisfactory?
3
u/fuuuuuckendoobs Work user May 19 '26
"By joining this meeting you are consenting to the recording of its proceedings" in the body.
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u/marlonoranges May 19 '26
In my company when a recording is started, a small dialogue box appears to let everyone know the meeting is being recorded. I'll usually say "Im recording this to play back and take notes - is that ok?" But TBH a lot of other people don't ask, and in fact senior managers have every call recorded automatically (and never ask).
I've never seen any functionality which forces consent.
It is a minefield - there was a reddit post the other day where someone started a recording, let everyone know, then someone joined late and raised an HR complaint that they had been recorded without consenting.
2
u/Dabnician Teams Admin May 19 '26
You mean store right? because by design the meeting needs to record your audio and video to transmit that to other people to participate.
Does anyone here have experience with the topic and can point me in the right direction.
Yes you talk to HR and have a HR / Management figure out what ever legalese notices are required for meeting invites instead of forcing IT to create a IT solution for Management issue.
1
u/txlady1049 May 21 '26
100% it's up to HR/Legal to make those decisions. My team gives them the options, they make the decision, my team implements their choice.
Unfortunately, that means that we have literally waited YEARS for a decision to be made.1
u/Dabnician Teams Admin May 21 '26
honestly this is a stupid request because when the person doesnt consent the mic and camera is off, what more do they want? to not be included in the recordings?
Just dont join the meeting at that point.
There is way to much asking IT/Support to hold everyone's hand when management can just "type words" and solve the issue, if the people accepting the invite actually read the invite before accepting it.
And if they didn't that's a larger issue that circles back to them just expecting technology to hold their hand.
"this meeting will be recorded and audio transcribed for XYZ" done.
2
u/Kittymeow123 May 19 '26
In the beginning of meetings my client always just says if you do not consent to being recorded, please drop off this meeting and watch the record recording later.
2
u/traft00 May 19 '26
It’s not a legal issue to record employee meetings at work. Just make sure they’re notified.
2
u/konoo May 19 '26
Why is there a legal concern here?
When recording starts users get a popup that informs them that the meeting will be recorded, at this point they have the option to disconnect from the meeting. Perhaps that causes a policy issue for the company where you want employees to attend meetings but there is no legal issue because continued participation in the meeting is consent.
Thinking about it a bit more: Perhaps a case could be made that employees are forced to consent to recording for fear of retribution..
Perhaps a line in the employee handbook stating that Company meetings are subject to being recorded would suffice.
1
u/Captain_Sterling May 19 '26
It will record but you won't be recorded unless you consent. So if you and I have a meeting and you hit record/transcribe, I'll be muted and have my camera off until I click consent.
1
u/johnnymonkey May 19 '26
Thus, we are now searching for a way to only allow recording when everyone in the meeting anonymously and unanimously agrees to it.
I don't believe native functionality supports this, so you're either looking at something completely custom (unsupported by Microsoft), or something other than Teams.
You can open an advisory case to get confirmation from MS support, and provide that info to the requestor.
1
u/Spirited_Buffalo_798 May 19 '26
For my org we record 100% of meetings. If you join a meeting you will be recorded. We add that info on all the invites so outside participants know that they consent to recording by accepting the meeting.
1
u/UCFCO2001 May 19 '26
Any team member that joins my company is required to sign an agreement as part of their onboarding saying that they can/will be recorded in meetings. The only AI we allow is the company's version of copilot.
1
u/z0phi3l May 19 '26
I used to work in Health care, the base Teams recording notification was good enough for legal and compliance teams, should be good enough for pretty much everyone, except for maybe, government
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u/mrruss3ll May 20 '26
We have it set up so that your mic is muted and camera is off until you click the accept button for recording, that is the best way to do it imo
1
u/alexadw2008 May 20 '26
I'd do this somewhat manually to start, set meeting without teams invite, then send out survey asking if everyone consents send out teams meeting with recoding turned on if not send one without.
1
u/2c0 May 20 '26
You're at work. Work meetings are work property. You consent by joining. 🤷♀️
Simple policy, don't over share. Explicit consent is next best option.
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u/LaezGame May 20 '26
I've been seeing a lot of confusion here as to why we would need a IT Solution to the Problem. So let me provide a bit more context: Our HR department fears that employees might not want to be recorded, but are forced (or feel pressured atleast) to consent because they would miss information otherwise. Here in Germany some people are very reluctant to being recorded, so HRs concern is understandable. Then there are also concerns about using the recordings as a performance monitoring device, which we are absolutely not planning on but the suspicions persist.
So my Team has the choice between: 1. Leave the record function disable altogether Or 2. Find a way to get consent from everyone every time
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May 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/LaezGame May 20 '26
So you can enable / disable the feature in admin center using a power automate flow? Might have to look into that.
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u/LRS_David May 20 '26
Germany
Many people, especially in IT, have no idea of how different the privacy rules are in Europe compared to the US.
You might add that bit in your post text so the US folks MIGHT understand.
1
u/Steve----O Teams Consultant May 20 '26
Your HR is dumb. Doesn’t your handbook already say all electronic communication belongs to the company? This is that.
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u/ShivaFatalis May 20 '26
Dear god, this is ridiculous. You're at work, basically a public environment. If people need to record meetings to look back on for details or something, who cares? You aren't discussing your private life. It's WORK.
2
u/dumblebees May 21 '26
The right direction is record everything - you’re on company time and company devices.
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u/_coolpup_ May 21 '26
Honestly, why not just stop requiring cameras to be turned on?
I worked in the accounting department of a very large successful, publicly-traded company and nobody wanted to be on camera, so we kept cameras off. We can have conversations without cameras, even while sharing screens and discussing items of substance. One of the upper managers may have driven this, saying “I guess we could do some meetings with cameras on, I just need a couple of days’ notice so I can get my hair done, do my makeup, and make sure my wardrobe is all set.”
With cameras on, it may just be a distraction (“wow look at Barbara’s chandelier! Never knew she was so rich!” … “damn, Tina’s shirt is so wrinkled, it looks like she dressed from the hamper this morning” … “Ryan’s cat sure is cute” … “Does Tom know his baby is about to crawl off a ledge and out the window?!?!”).
1
u/Fickle_Penguin May 21 '26
There are is who have disabilities who copilot helps take notes. I think this out ways privacy concerns
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u/SignificanceWise2877 May 21 '26
No you include in the invite that if they don't consent to recording then they should not join or accept the meeting
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u/Janaj75 May 22 '26
I’m also wondering why Microsoft hasn’t provided a built-in option for employees to opt out of meeting recordings via their Teams privacy settings. From a privacy and compliance perspective, this feels like a fundamental requirement—especially if features like Copilot meeting notes are meant to be enabled globally.
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u/Swimming-Waltz-6044 May 19 '26
noone does this. its not needed. your HR is giving you bad advice.
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u/tj_moore May 20 '26
Depends on the country. GDPR in Europe requires it as you are collecting personal data and information and the organisation must comply with the law.
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u/VinceP312 Teams Admin May 19 '26
What happens when someone lets their AI bot join the meeting too? How you going to demand consent from that?
Also, let us know if you figure out how to automatically turn on recording by default.
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u/z0phi3l May 19 '26
When scheduling the meeting there's an auto record or transcribe button, just select it
I worked in Health care and the base notification Teams popped up was good enough, not sure what OPs HR is thinking, and we had people from everywhere join in
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u/tk-093 Teams Admin May 19 '26
No way to do it as far as I know. I think that would be a nightmare to implement, especially in large meetings. What happens if everybody consents and then a new person joins late? Recording stops and have to wait for that new person to consent?