New Class Actions Target Fireflies.AI and Otter.ai for Collecting Biometric Data Without Consent
Mason & Perry LLP | April 13, 2026
That helpful bot that silently joins your Zoom calls, transcribes every word, and sends you a tidy summary afterward? It may be doing far more than taking notes. A wave of class action lawsuits now alleges that popular AI meeting assistants—including Fireflies.AI and Otter.ai—are quietly harvesting participants’ voiceprints without consent, in potential violation of one of the nation’s toughest biometric privacy laws.
What Are Voiceprints, and Why Do They Matter?
A voiceprint is a mathematical model of the unique characteristics of your voice—pitch, cadence, tone, and vocal-tract shape. Much like a fingerprint, a voiceprint can identify you with a high degree of certainty. AI meeting tools use a technique called speaker diarization to distinguish who said what in a conversation. To do that, these platforms generate and store voiceprint data for every participant—even those who never signed up for the service.
Under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (740 ILCS 14), commonly known as BIPA, voiceprints are classified as “biometric identifiers.” That means companies that collect them must follow strict rules: provide written notice, obtain informed written consent before collection, and maintain a publicly available data-retention and destruction policy. The penalties for noncompliance are steep—up to $1,000 per negligent violation and $5,000 per intentional or reckless violation.
The Lawsuits: Fireflies.AI and Otter.ai in the Crosshairs
In December 2025, Illinois resident Katelin Cruz filed a proposed class action in the Northern District of Illinois against Fireflies.AI Corp. (Cruz v. Fireflies.AI Corp., No. 3:25-cv-03399-SEM-DJQ). Cruz alleged that when Fireflies’ bot joined a nonprofit meeting she attended, it recorded her voice and generated a voiceprint using its “speaker recognition” feature—all without notifying her, obtaining written consent, or publishing a retention policy as BIPA requires.
Months earlier, in August 2025, Justin Brewer brought a similar class action against Otter.ai Inc. in the Northern District of California (Brewer v. Otter.ai Inc., No. 5:25-cv-06911). Brewer, who did not have an Otter account, participated in a Zoom call in February 2025 where Otter’s notetaker automatically joined, recorded the conversation, and—according to the complaint—created voiceprints that were later used to train the company’s machine-learning models.
Both lawsuits share a common thread: the plaintiffs were not users of the AI tool, had no contractual relationship with the company, and received no notice that their biometric data was being collected.
Why This Matters for Everyday Meeting Participants
The implications extend well beyond Illinois. AI meeting assistants like Fireflies, Otter, and their competitors operate across every state and internationally. If your employer, client, or colleague uses one of these tools, your voice data may be captured the moment you join a call—regardless of whether you consented or even knew the bot was present.
Unlike a password, you cannot change your voiceprint if it is compromised. Once collected and stored, biometric data creates a permanent privacy risk. If the company experiences a breach, or if it shares voiceprints with third parties or uses them for model training, the damage cannot be undone.
What You Can Do to Protect Yourself
Check for AI bots on your calls. Most AI meeting assistants join as a named participant (such as “Fireflies.ai Notetaker” or “Otter.ai”). If you see an unfamiliar bot in the attendee list, ask the host about it before speaking.
Ask whether your voice data is being stored. You have every right to know what data is being collected, how long it will be retained, and whether it will be shared with third parties or used for AI training.
Know your state’s biometric privacy protections. Illinois’ BIPA is the gold standard, but Texas, Washington, and several other states have enacted their own biometric privacy statutes. Even if you do not reside in Illinois, these laws may still protect you if the data was collected or processed there.
Document what happened. If you believe an AI meeting tool recorded your voice without consent, note the date, the platform, who hosted the meeting, and which AI tool was present. This information can be valuable if a class action moves forward.
Mason & Perry LLP represents individuals and groups in data breach and privacy class action litigation. If you believe your data was improperly collected or shared, contact us to discuss your options.