A meeting recording retention policy: how long to keep each part

A meeting recording retention policy says how long you keep each part of a recorded meeting — the audio, the transcript, the notes and any voiceprints — and when each is deleted. No general law sets the numbers. Data-protection law, where it applies, requires you to keep personal data no longer than your purpose needs and to decide that period in advance, which in practice means writing the periods down and then deleting on schedule.

This guide sets out a starting schedule per kind of record, why the audio usually goes first, the exceptions that override any schedule, and how to apply it across every copy. The wider policy — who may record, how consent is asked, which tools are allowed — is in writing a meeting recording policy; this is the retention part in depth.

What the law asks for

In the UK and the EU, the storage limitation principle in Article 5(1)(e) of the GDPR says personal data must be kept in a form that identifies people "for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed". Article 5(1)(c), data minimisation, adds that it must be limited to what is necessary in the first place.

The Information Commissioner's Office's guidance on storage limitation (checked 25 September 2026) makes three points that shape a schedule:

• "The UK GDPR does not set specific time limits for different types of data." The period is yours to decide and justify.
• You should "establish and document standard retention periods for different categories of information you hold wherever possible", although a small organisation doing occasional low-risk processing may not need a documented policy.
• At the end of a period, "review whether you still need personal data" and "erase or anonymise it unless there is a clear justification for keeping it for longer".

Outside Europe, many data-protection laws have a similar retention principle, and the details differ. The logic of this guide works under most of them; the country guides in is it legal to record a meeting? cover the local rules.

A starting schedule for a meeting recording retention policy

Treat these as defaults to adjust, not as rules. The right period depends on why you record.

Why audio usually goes first

Audio is the most sensitive part of a meeting: it carries voices, tone, side remarks and background, and a voice identifies a person more directly than text does. It is also the least needed once the notes are agreed. Most of the value of a recording is used in the first days after the meeting, when someone checks a summary or a quote against it.

That is why many policies delete audio early and keep text longer. It is also a good sentence to say at the start of a meeting: "I'm recording so I can write accurate notes; the recording is deleted after a month."

Transcripts and notes

A transcript is personal data about everyone who spoke, so it needs a period of its own, but it is easier to justify keeping than audio: it is smaller, searchable and quotable. Notes are the working record and usually follow the rules for the rest of a project's documents. Where notes were written by AI, keep the label on them wherever they go.

Voiceprints

If your notetaker learns to recognise voices, those voiceprints may be biometric data under laws such as the GDPR and the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, which carry stricter rules, including in some cases a published retention schedule. Voice recognition and privacy covers that separately. In short: keep them only while you use them, and delete them on request.

Exceptions that override the schedule

• Legal holds. When litigation or an investigation is reasonably expected, relevant records must be preserved, including recordings that the schedule would delete. In US federal courts, Rule 37(e) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allows measures against a party that failed to take reasonable steps to preserve electronically stored information it should have kept. Other systems have their own rules. Whoever handles legal matters decides when a hold starts and ends.
• Sector record-keeping. Some regulated work requires recordings to be kept for a minimum period. In UK financial services, for example, the FCA's recording rules in SYSC 10A require certain records to be kept for five years, and up to seven where the FCA asks. If you work in a regulated sector, those rules come first.
• Contracts. A client contract may set a shorter or longer period, or forbid recording altogether.
• Requests from the people recorded. Someone may ask for a copy or for deletion before your period ends. See subject access requests for meeting recordings and the right to erasure and meeting recordings.

Apply it to every copy

A schedule applies to the recording wherever it is, and most meetings have more copies than people think:

1. The tool's own copy on your computer or the vendor's servers.
2. Synced copies on your other devices.
3. Backups: disk backups such as Time Machine, and any cloud copy of recordings.
4. Exports: notes pasted into documents, transcripts saved as files, minutes emailed.
5. Other people's copies: anything you shared.

Write down where each lives, and give exports and backups a rule too. A backup usually cannot be edited to remove one meeting; say in the policy that backups expire on their own cycle and are not restored except to recover from a loss. Backing up meeting recordings and getting recordings back after losing a Mac cover the backup side.

Make deletion a routine

A retention period that nobody applies is worse than none, because it is a promise you are breaking. Three habits keep it real:

1. A fixed monthly review. Look at everything older than the shortest period and act on it.
2. Export, then delete, where the text must outlive the audio.
3. A note of exceptions. Anything kept past its date because of a hold or a request gets a line saying why and until when.

How Notey fits a retention schedule

Notey keeps meetings on the Mac that recorded them, so the list of copies is short. What it does and does not do today:

• Deleting a meeting removes it whole: recording, transcript, notes, questions asked and its contribution to any learned voice. With sync on, it is removed from your account and from every Mac, recording included, and the confirmation names the Mac that holds it. Deleting meeting recordings has the steps.
• You cannot yet delete the audio and keep the transcript. If your schedule keeps text longer, export the notes as Markdown and the transcript as plain text first, then delete the meeting.
• Recordings do not sync. They stay on the Mac that made them and are never uploaded, not even encrypted, so there is no cloud copy of them to schedule. Keeping your meeting notes on two Macs explains what travels.
• Voices are off by default. Forget this voice deletes a person's voiceprints, on every Mac with sync.
• The recovery key only your Macs hold means the synced copy is unreadable without it; see lost your recovery key?. For how the encryption is arranged, see end-to-end encrypted meeting notes, and for working across two Macs, a laptop and desktop workflow.
• AI notes send transcript text to Notey's service and on to OpenAI as a processor when you ask; Notey does not keep the text after the response. The privacy policy sets this out.

Frequently asked questions

How long should I keep meeting recordings?

As long as the purpose needs and no longer. Many teams delete audio a few weeks after the notes are checked, because once the notes are agreed the audio is rarely needed and is the most sensitive part.

Is there a legal retention period for meeting recordings?

Not in general. The UK and EU GDPR set no fixed periods; they require you to decide one. Some regulated activities, such as certain financial services calls, have their own record-keeping rules, and a legal hold can require you to keep something you would otherwise delete.

Should transcripts be kept longer than recordings?

Often, yes. A transcript is easier to search and quote, smaller, and less sensitive than a voice. It is still personal data, so it needs its own period.

What is a legal hold?

An instruction to preserve information because of actual or expected litigation or an investigation. It overrides the normal schedule for the records it covers, and deleting them after it applies can have serious consequences.

Do I need a written retention policy as a freelancer?

The ICO says a small organisation doing occasional low-risk processing may not need a documented policy. You still need to decide how long you keep recordings and actually delete them.