Otter.AI - How to block from joining meetings?

[ChrisLunde240]

For our account, we have native Recording and Transcription disabled, unless pre-authorized, due to our very strict security and legal policies.

We just learned that an Otter.AI bot, used by an external user, auto joined a call (Hosted by us) as 'user_otterpilot'. Once the meeting was over, the full transcript of the meeting was emailed to all users on the invitation - based on integration with the external users calendar. 

When the Otterpilot AI is recording/transcribing, the Host and all attendees are unaware that this meeting is being recorded. 

Does anyone know how we can block these bots from joining our internal calls?  All IP's are different and I can't find out what domain the account is using to attempt blocking that way. 

Thanks!

[claire_w]

I'm trying Blocking users in specific domains and adding otter.ai as blocked

(https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/4403624900109)

[Smithwerks]

We are in the same boat... I attempted to block a similar service (fireflies.ai) and while definitely enabled at the admin level, "fred@ the domain mentioned above" was still able to join my meeting....

Fred is the AI assistant you invite to your meeting and the address literally is fred at firelfies.ai

I have a ticket open as this is a massive compliance hole that needs to be filled ASAP.

[meriment]

Blocking all IPs is not realistic as each of these bots will have a different IP. If these bots are able to join because they are being enabled by an external user you have invited to the meeting you will need to enable a waiting room and require authentication to prevent these unauthorized recordings and transcriptions. You can also use Salepager which distinguishes between humans and bots trying to join your Zoom meetings to prevent AI bots from joining from an integration with an external users calendars. As the host you want to be in control of whether the meeting is recorded.

[mmesarina]

I just had this experience with a person somehow enabling their Otter.Ai assistant to enter the meeting representing them. This is a HUGE PRIVACY issue.  Is Zoom doing something to provide a way for hosts to block these AI applications? 

[shee_talk]

The suggestion I got was to enable captcha for non-authenticated users. But was hoping for something not so user impacting.

[ChrisLunde240]

We have dug into this with further to understand the Otter.AI process. We have learned that some users choose to allow for the Otter.AI bot to scan/join all meetings within their Calendar service - and will join every meeting automatically even when they do not personally attend. I would recommend reaching out to your Zoom CSM - we have requested to have Zoom block all Otter.AI bots from joining our internal links and they are working on this now. Its our understanding that Zoom is fully engaged with Otter.AI and is looking for a resolution immediately.  In the interim, we have advised our users to remove any user with the surname of "OtterPilot" as that will never change. 

[oaklandca]

Hello 

Are there any updates, was your zoom CSM able to block otter AI?

[NicoKres]

Hello, I found this piece of info from this link Blocking users in specific domains
"

1. Sign in to the Zoom web portal.
2. In the navigation panel, click Settings.
3. Click the Meeting tab.
4. Under Security, verify that Block users in specific domains from joining meetings and webinars is enabled.
5. If the setting is disabled, click the toggle to enable it. If a verification dialog appears, click Enable to verify the change.
   Note: If the option is grayed out, it has been locked at either the group or account level. You need to contact your Zoom admin.
6. Enter the domains that you want to block from joining meetings and webinars that you host.
7. Click Save."
   
   Not sure if this will work. But I have enabled it for now and will see if it helps.

[CARSZoom]

We were just told from Zoom Customer Support that we can't block Otter.AI. We did a little sleuthing and learned that the location of the Otter users were all Boardman, Oregon, so we are blocking users from that location in our settings. It's a start to prevent access until something can be created to block this.

[pronasit]

I recently encountered a situation where someone enabled their Otter.Ai assistant to join a meeting on their behalf. This presents a significant privacy concern. Is Zoom taking any steps to allow hosts the option to block such AI applications from entering their meetings?

[Jordan4]

Every once in a while we'll get an Ai Assistant in our Zoom Meetings. It's not an issue of having that one person have the recording, but often times the Otter.Ai assistant has the setting enabled sends out an emails to all attendees: a Live Notes email, and a Meeting Summary. We record all our meetings and send out a meeting recap with highlights of the meeting and action items, so all attendees get multiple emails on the same topic. We recently had Otter.Ai come into a meeting and was recording and when we removed it, it also stopped our recording...a big issue that folks might not realize.

[AnonymousJo]

We have advised our users to enable the waiting room feature and do not admit the bots. This is not ideal and an extra step, but it does give our community more control.

[UNIPH]

Please zoom support provide administrative means of disabling auto pilot from joining our sensitive meetings because my clients totally do not want it, as it poses security threat for information

[GMCSTechTeacher]

This is a major security concern. HIPPA or FERPA, anyone? We've had parents in IEP meetings asking about it, and a lawsuit seems like the next step. Special Education, school nurses, all have strict privacy standards that otter.ai can't meet. We blocked the domain and extensions but the AI bots still get in and record sensitive data. I wish something could be done about this for protected student and health data, before it becomes a legal nightmare.

[piramidederana]

We discovered that Otter.ai and others were getting credentials to join the zoom call from scanning the user's google calendar. We've been able to block the most common offenders from Zoom and Meet by adding/finding otter.ai and company in Google Admin API sections, but that only works in our case because most of the offending AI are getting in via Google Calendar. Any users doing some shadow IT and giving access to Zoom events by another channel is still going to be a challenge.