Interview recording privacy: a 7-point checklist

Why does interview recording privacy matter more than other uploads?

An interview recording holds two people's voices, and only one of them signed up for the tool. The interviewer's words, and often their name, end up in the transcript and in anything built from it. So the questions to ask a tool are about your data and theirs. A tool that can't answer them clearly hasn't earned the upload.

There's also more at stake than a typed note. Audio carries your voice, the interviewer's voice, the company's name and whatever was said about the role, the team or the pay. Treat a recording like a document you'd only hand to someone you trust, and check the tool's privacy page before the first round, not after.

What are the 7 questions to ask any recording tool?

Ask where the audio goes, how long it stays, who else sees it, and how you get it back or get rid of it. The table lists all seven, what a good answer looks like, and Prept's answer to each, taken only from its privacy policy dated October 3, 2026. Use the same columns to check any other tool.

A tool that answers all seven in writing is worth considering. A tool that answers only some of them in a support chat, or not at all, is telling you something too.

Is the audio deleted after transcription?

Ask whether the audio file itself is deleted once the text exists, and when. A transcript is enough for almost every use, including a debrief. Audio kept for months is a larger privacy risk, because it holds both voices and can be replayed or shared. Look for a plain statement of when audio is deleted.

Also ask what is kept instead. Most tools keep the transcript and whatever they build from it, such as notes or scores. That's reasonable, as long as you can delete those too.

Which company processes the audio, and does it train on it?

Most recording tools send audio to a speech or AI provider rather than doing the work themselves. Ask which provider, and which version of its service. The answer matters, because the same provider can have different rules for its free and paid tiers. A good privacy page names the provider and quotes or links its terms.

Google's Gemini API terms, last updated April 28, 2026, show why the tier matters. For paid services, Google says it "doesn't use your prompts" or responses "to improve our products," and logs them "for a limited period of time" to detect policy violations. For unpaid services, Google says it uses submitted content to improve its products and that human reviewers may read it.

Can you delete a recording, and the whole account?

You should be able to delete a single round yourself, at any time, without writing to support. Account deletion should come with a deadline. Some places give you a legal right to ask, so name the law that applies to you when you write. The rules differ by country and state, and the deadlines below are each regulator's own.

In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office says the right to erasure lets you ask an organisation to delete your data, and in some circumstances it must. It says an organisation "has one calendar month to respond," and that you can ask verbally or in writing.

In California, the Attorney General's CCPA page, updated August 28, 2026, lists "the right to delete personal information collected from them (with some exceptions)." It says businesses must respond to a request to delete within 45 calendar days. The CCPA covers only businesses that meet its tests, so check whether a given tool is one.

Can you get a copy of your recording or transcript?

Ask whether you can export the transcript, or at least request a copy. A copy lets you keep your notes if you stop paying, and lets you see exactly what a tool holds about you. The best answer is an export you can run yourself; the next best is a written deadline for a request by email.

In Canada, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner's guide to PIPEDA's individual access principle says people "have a right to access the personal information that an organization holds about them." It tells organizations to respond "no later than 30 days after receiving it," at minimal or no cost.

What does the tool do about the interviewer?

A careful tool reminds you to ask for consent before every recording and gives the interviewer a way to have their words removed. It can't check that you asked, and it should say so. If the privacy page never mentions the other person on the call, it hasn't thought about them, and you should think twice.

The consent part is yours either way. A sentence you can say at the start of the call: "Before we start, would you be okay with me recording this so I can review my own answers afterward? It stays private to me." Never record without asking. Consent rules differ by place, and one-party and two-party consent explains the difference by state, while whether it's legal to record a job interview covers the US, Canada and the UK.

Video platforms add their own layer. What the other side sees when you record is covered in recording a Zoom, Teams or Meet interview, and the wording for asking is in how to ask to record your interview.

What if you don't want to upload a recording at all?

Then don't record, and write your notes by hand instead. The free 10-minute debrief template has five timed parts: the facts, the questions in order, the moments, the numbers you said, and one fix. It keeps everything on your own page, involves no consent question, and works for any round, including one that went badly.

A written debrief misses your exact words, which is the part a transcript adds. If you do record later, the method in what to do with an interview transcript shows how to read it in six steps. The idea behind both is set out in what an interview debrief is.

Prept's answers are in the table above, and the full detail is on its privacy page. If they meet your bar, you can record your first round with Prept and see the debrief it writes from it.