Getting Consent for AI Meetings
How to configure the pre-meeting consent screen on your WaterrAI scenarios, customise the message participants see, and stay on the right side of recording and privacy laws.
Why Consent Matters
AI-powered meetings let you scale conversations that used to be one-to-one — interviews, screenings, customer discovery, onboarding. But every participant who joins one of your meetings is sharing real words and real data. They deserve to know exactly what they're agreeing to before the meeting begins.
Consent isn't just a legal checkbox. It's the foundation of trust between your business and the people you bring into the conversation. When participants know how their words will be used, stored, and shared, they engage more openly and you get better signal from every meeting.
"The best meetings come from rooms where everyone feels comfortable speaking freely. A clear consent screen makes that possible."
Beyond ethics, many jurisdictions legally require explicit, informed consent before recording or transcribing conversations. Getting consent right protects you, your organisation, and your relationships.
The Consent Screen — Built Into Every Scenario
WaterrAI has consent management built directly into every scenario you create. You don't need to ship custom code, embed third-party widgets, or remember to mention it in an email. The consent screen lives where it belongs: right before a participant joins the meeting.
How it works
When Require Consent Screen is enabled on a scenario, every participant sees a consent dialog before the meeting starts. They have to read your terms and click I understand to continue. If they decline, they're redirected to a cancellation page and the meeting never starts. Nothing is recorded, transcribed, or stored.
The default consent message covers the essentials — recording, storage, and sharing of communications with third-party service providers — and links out to your Terms of Service. You can rewrite it word for word to match your brand voice, your legal team's guidance, or the specific use case of the scenario.
Enabling consent on a scenario
- Open the scenario you want to configure. 2. Click the Settings tab and select Consent in the left rail. 3. Toggle Require Consent Screen on. 4. Use the default consent message or click Edit to write your own. Use markdown for links: `[Link Text](url)`. 5. Save. Every new meeting from this scenario will now show the consent screen before joining.
What participants see
A clean dialog titled Consent Required, with your full message, a Cancel button, and an I understand button. No camera or microphone access is requested until consent is given. The participant's choice is logged with the meeting so you have a clear audit trail.
Writing a Good Consent Message
A clear consent message does three things: tells participants what's happening, tells them what will be done with their data, and gives them a way to learn more. Keep it short, plain, and specific to the scenario.
What to include
- What kind of meeting it is — an AI interview, a customer discovery call, an onboarding session. - What's being captured — audio, transcript, screen, video, or just the conversation. - Where the data goes — stored on WaterrAI, sent to third-party LLM/STT/TTS providers, shared with your team. - A link to your privacy policy or terms of service for participants who want the full picture.
Example messages
For an HR / candidate interview:
"By clicking 'I understand' you consent to participating in an AI-led interview with [Your Company]. The session will be recorded and transcribed so our hiring team can review your responses. Your data is handled according to our [Privacy Policy](https://your-company.com/privacy)."
For a customer discovery / research call:
"By joining this conversation you consent to the recording and transcription of this session for product research purposes. Your responses will be reviewed by our research team and may be quoted anonymously in internal reports. See our [Research Terms](https://your-company.com/research-terms)."
For a customer onboarding session:
"By clicking 'I understand' you consent to this session being recorded and transcribed so we can personalise your onboarding and improve our product. Read more in our [Terms of Service](https://your-company.com/terms)."
Tips that work in practice
- Match the message to the scenario. A friendly customer discovery call should not sound like a court summons. - Always link out. A consent screen is not the right place for your full privacy policy — link to it instead. - Keep it under 80 words. Long walls of text get ignored. Short, specific text gets read. - Test it on a colleague. If they can't summarise what they agreed to in one sentence, rewrite it.
When to Turn Consent On
| Scenario type | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| HR / candidate interviews | On — candidates should know they're being assessed by AI and recorded |
| Customer discovery / research | On — required in most jurisdictions when you'll quote or analyse responses |
| Public-facing scenarios on your website | On — visitors need to know before camera/mic access is requested |
| Sales / qualification calls | On — many regions legally require disclosure before recording sales conversations |
| Internal team training | Optional — team members likely already know, but enabling it builds the habit |
Tip: Even where consent isn't legally required, a clear screen improves the meeting itself. Participants who understand the setup speak more naturally, give better answers, and leave with more confidence in your brand.
Legal Considerations
Recording and transcription laws vary significantly across jurisdictions. Here's what to know when you're shipping AI meetings at scale:
One-party vs. all-party consent
Some US states only require one party to consent to a recording. Others — California, Illinois, Florida, Washington, and most of the EU — require every participant to agree. When your meetings cross borders, the strictest applicable rule wins. The consent screen is the simplest way to satisfy this for every participant, every time.
GDPR and data protection
In the EU and UK, processing someone's speech is personal data processing under GDPR. Explicit consent is one of the clearest lawful bases you can rely on. The consent screen creates a timestamped record of that consent and what the participant agreed to.
Industry-specific rules
Healthcare (HIPAA), education (FERPA), and financial services have additional rules for recorded interactions. If you're in one of these industries, work with your compliance team to draft a consent message that covers the specific obligations of your domain.
Corporate policies
Many enterprise customers have internal policies that govern AI tools in external conversations. Enabling the consent screen and using a custom message that names your company gives those teams the audit trail they need.
Disclaimer: This guide provides general information about consent practices in AI meetings. It is not legal advice. You are responsible for understanding and complying with the laws that apply to your jurisdiction and your use case. Consult a qualified legal professional for advice specific to your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do I configure the consent screen?
Open any scenario, go to Settings → Consent, and toggle Require Consent Screen on. Customise the message there. The setting lives per scenario, so you can enable it for sensitive use cases and skip it for others.
What happens if a participant clicks Cancel?
The meeting never starts. The participant is redirected to a cancellation page and no recording, transcript, or analysis is created. No data from their session is stored.
Can I customise the consent message per scenario?
Yes. Each scenario has its own consent message, so you can match the wording to the audience — candidates, customers, internal teams — and link to the right legal page for that flow.
Does the consent screen work for embedded and shareable meetings?
Yes. The consent screen runs before the meeting room loads, regardless of how the participant got there — direct link, scheduled session, embedded widget on your site, or QR code. The participant has to consent in every entry point.
Is the participant's consent recorded?
Yes. WaterrAI logs that the participant accepted the consent dialog with the meeting record, giving you an audit trail you can show to your legal or compliance team if needed.
Do I have to write my own consent message?
No. There's a sensible default that covers recording, storage, and third-party processing. You only need to edit it if your legal team has specific wording or you want to add a link to your own privacy policy.
Can I require consent only for some meetings?
Yes — the setting is per scenario. Turn it on for scenarios where participants are external (candidates, customers, research subjects) and leave it off for internal scenarios where your team is already opted in by policy.