This page explains how the University of Waterloo handles third‑party AI note‑taking bots (such as Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai, and Read.ai) in UW-hosted online meetings, and what meeting organizers and participants should do if one appears.
What You Need to Know: When you control the UW-hosted meeting
- Third‑party AI note‑taking bots are not permitted in UW-hosted meetings.
- These tools are not approved or vendor‑assessed by UW.
- If a bot joins a meeting, it should be removed immediately and banned if it re‑joins.
- UW provides built‑in Microsoft tools for transcription, accessibility, and meeting summaries.
Why Are Third‑Party AI Bots Not Allowed?
Waterloo does not allow third‑party AI meeting bots for the following reasons:
- Lack of data protection and institutional oversight: Third‑party AI meeting bots because they collect and process personally identifiable information (PII) and potentially other confidential content without a data protection agreement in place. This includes:
- Expanded data exposure beyond the meeting environment.
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Third‑party processing and downstream use: meeting content may be processed by the vendor and/or its subprocessors, and may be used to train AI models, support analytics, service improvement, or other processing activities.
- Unintended behaviour and ongoing exposure: some bots automatically join meetings by reading user calendars, may re‑join after being removed unless explicitly banned, and can send post‑meeting emails to all attendees, they extend data collection and exposure beyond the intended meeting, creating additional risk, particularly in meetings with external participants.
Accessibility and transcription
Accessibility can be supported without third‑party bots. UW‑approved Microsoft Teams support transcription.
- UW users may use built-in Microsoft Teams transcription where available.
- Meeting notes or transcripts can be shared after the meeting.
- Accessibility needs should be addressed without introducing unvetted third party tools.
What meeting organizers should do
If a third‑party AI bot joins your meeting:
- Remove the bot immediately.
- If the bot re‑joins, ban it.
- Do not continue the meeting until only intended human participants are present.
UW hosts/organizers do not need permission from the participant who invited the bot.
Scripts to use in the meeting
These short scripts can be read verbatim or adapted.
Standard script:
“Before we begin, I’m going to remove the Fireflies note‑taking bot. Due to confidentiality and data protection requirements, third‑party bots aren’t allowed in University of Waterloo meetings.”
Accessibility‑aware script:
“I’m going to remove the Fireflies bot. While we don’t allow third‑party AI note‑taking tools in UW meetings, built‑in Microsoft Teams transcription is available for UW users, and notes or transcripts can be shared after the meeting if needed.”
If an external participant asks why?
“We don’t allow third‑party AI bots in UW-hosted meetings because we don’t have a data protection agreement with those vendors. We’re happy to share notes or follow up after the meeting.”
What should participants do?
If you are not the organizer of a UW-hosted meeting and notice a bot has joined:
- Politely alert the organizer (verbally or in chat).
- Example message: “Just a heads‑up, a third‑party note‑taking bot has joined. We usually remove those for UW meetings.”
If you are attending an externally hosted meeting and notice a bot:
If you are joining a meeting hosted outside UW, you may not be able to control whether bots, recording, or transcription tools are used. In these situations:
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Assume the meeting may be recorded or transcribed, even if this is not explicitly stated.
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Be mindful of what information is shared, especially confidential or personal information.
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Keep discussions at a higher level where appropriate.
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Follow up through UW-controlled channels for more detailed or sensitive conversations.
The following examples are optional and may be helpful if you want to raise the concern in a meeting:
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Clarification: “Just confirming, is the note-taking tool capturing a transcript? If so, I may keep things at a higher level for anything confidential or sensitive.”
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Boundary setting: “Given the use of a transcription tool, I’ll avoid going into detail here and can follow up separately if needed.”
University approved alternatives for notes and transcripts
Waterloo provides Microsoft tools that support accessibility, transcription, and meeting follow‑up within Waterloo's enterprise environment.
Enterprise Microsoft Teams (Standard) + Microsoft Copilot Chat (Enterprise)
- Organizers can enable live transcription during a meeting.
- After the meeting, the transcript can be downloaded and shared as appropriate.
- Transcripts remain within UW’s Microsoft 365 environment.
- Transcripts or notes can be pasted into Copilot Chat (Enterprise)
- Copilot can help:
- Summarize discussions
- Identify tasks or action items
- Extract key decisions and themes
Microsoft Teams Premium
Teams Premium includes built‑in features such as:
- Automated meeting summaries
- Highlights and action items
- Enhanced transcription and recap tools
These capabilities are provided directly through Teams Premium and do not rely on external bots.
After the Meeting: Use Caution with Follow-Up Emails and Links
Third-party meeting tools may send follow-up emails after meetings, including transcripts or summaries. These emails may contain links that:
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Prompt you to log in.
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Request access to your calendar or email.
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Enable ongoing integration with third-party tools.
Do not interact with these links unless you are confident in the source and understand what access is being requested.
Key takeaway
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If you control the meeting, remove unapproved bots.
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If you don’t control the meeting, assume conversations may be recorded and be mindful of what you share.
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After the meeting, be cautious with follow-up links or access requests.
If you didn’t explicitly invite a human to the meeting, they shouldn’t be there. Third‑party AI bots should be treated like uninvited attendees and removed, so meetings can proceed safely and appropriately.