AI tool privacy · Comparison
Otter vs Fireflies: how each handles your data
By David Michaelson, MS Last checked October 23, 2026
The short answer
Otter
Otter Enterprise workspaces are opted out of AI model training by default; on other plans, Otter trains its own AI on de-identified recordings and transcripts, and a separate setting decides whether people may review your conversations.
Fireflies
Fireflies says it does not use your meeting content to train AI models, on any plan, and its AI vendors may not keep or train on it; the bigger questions for a team are who can see each meeting and how long it is kept.
For a team: compare the plan you would actually buy, not just the brand. The tables below show each plan’s answers, with sources.
Side by side
Every answer links to the vendor’s own page and shows the date we read it. Where we could not confirm an answer, the cell says so in plain words and links to the page we checked.
| Question | OtterAccounts other than Enterprise | FirefliesPlans other than Enterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Trains on your data by default? | Yes, in de-identified form. Otter’s privacy policy says it trains its own AI on de-identified audio recordings and on transcripts, which may contain personal information. The “Help improve Otter” setting separately controls whether Otter and its providers may access your conversations, including through human review. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: otter.ai | No. Fireflies says audio, video, transcripts, and summaries are never used to train AI models, and its terms say it will not use your content to train generative AI. Its AI vendors, such as OpenAI and Anthropic, may not store or train on it. Fireflies may still use usage and statistical data drawn from your content to improve its service. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: fireflies.ai |
| How long your data is kept | Otter keeps personal information as long as needed for the purposes in its policy, or as long as the law requires. Deleted conversations sit in the Trash for 30 days and are then permanently deleted. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: otter.ai | As long as your account is active. Fireflies keeps personal information tied to your account while the account is active, and deletes it within 30 days after you close the account. The pages we read give no automatic deletion period for meetings on these plans. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: fireflies.ai |
| Who can see it | Only you and the people you choose to share with. Otter says its staff need your explicit consent before accessing a transcript or recording to troubleshoot. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: otter.ai | The people you choose. For each meeting you can limit access to participants, make it private, or share a link, and admins control workspace access through Groups. Fireflies says its own staff cannot see meeting content by default and need your permission, usually for support. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: guide.fireflies.ai |
| Where data is stored | Otter’s privacy policy names Amazon Web Services, based in the United States, as its cloud provider for compute and data storage. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: otter.ai | In the United States. Fireflies says it stores and processes data in its cloud on AWS and Google Cloud (GCP) in the United States by default. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: guide.fireflies.ai |
| How to delete | Open the conversation, click the three-dot menu, and select Delete. It moves to the Trash for 30 days. To delete it at once, open Trash, click “Empty Trash Now,” then “Delete Forever.” Read on October 23, 2026 Source: help.otter.ai | Open the meeting, click the three-dot menu next to its title, select Delete, and confirm. Only the meeting owner can delete a meeting. Fireflies says the transcript, summary, recording, and related data are then permanently deleted and can’t be restored. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: guide.fireflies.ai |
| Question | OtterEnterprise | FirefliesEnterprise |
|---|---|---|
| Trains on your data by default? | No, not by default. Otter says Enterprise workspaces are opted out of AI model training, and recordings, transcripts, and notes are not used to improve Otter’s global models or outside AI models. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: help.otter.ai | No. Fireflies says your data is never used to train AI models, inside Fireflies or outside it, and its vendors may not keep or train on it. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: guide.fireflies.ai |
| How long your data is kept | Enterprise admins can configure data retention policies, but the page we read does not give default periods. Page checked: help.otter.ai, October 23, 2026 | Enterprise admins can set retention rules, and auto-delete can remove old meetings automatically, but the pages we read do not give default periods. Page checked: guide.fireflies.ai, October 23, 2026 |
| Who can see it | Admins can see conversation titles, not transcripts or audio, unless the owner shares them. Approved Enterprise customers can ask Otter to turn on Super Admin, which gives chosen admins view access to conversations across the workspace. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: help.otter.ai | The people you choose, as on other plans. Admins can manage workspace access and set user permissions through Groups. Fireflies staff need your permission to see meeting content. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: guide.fireflies.ai |
| Where data is stored | Otter’s privacy policy names Amazon Web Services, based in the United States, as its cloud provider for compute and data storage. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: otter.ai | In the United States by default. With Private Storage, an Enterprise feature, meeting data is stored in a dedicated storage bucket, which can be your own on AWS S3 or Google Cloud Storage, but it is still processed on Fireflies’ servers in the U.S. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: guide.fireflies.ai |
| How to delete | Same steps as other plans, unless an admin has turned on “Disable Speech Deletion,” which stops everyone from permanently deleting recordings and transcripts. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: help.otter.ai | Same steps as other plans. Enterprise admins can also use auto-delete to remove old meetings automatically. Read on October 23, 2026 Source: guide.fireflies.ai |
Building your own approved tools list? The SafeStart Handbook includes one, with company accounts and safer privacy settings.