Fireflies.AI allegedly collected voiceprints without consent from Illinois meeting participant
Katelin Cruz sued Fireflies.AI, alleging the company's meeting assistant automatically recorded her voiceprint without notice or consent during a November 2025 virtual meeting, violating Illinois biometric privacy law. The complaint claims Fireflies.AI failed to provide written notice, obtain written consent, or publish a compliant data retention policy as required by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.
What happened
Katelin Cruz, an Illinois resident, participated in a virtual meeting on November 18, 2025, during which a Fireflies.AI meeting assistant was automatically enabled by a meeting host. According to the December 18, 2025 lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois, Cruz had never signed up for the AI meeting assistant, never clicked agreement to any terms of service, and never authorized biometric data collection.
The complaint alleges that Fireflies.AI's 'Speaker Recognition' functionality created and stored voiceprints of all meeting participants, including Cruz, without providing written notice of biometric collection, written notice of data retention periods, written consent, or a publicly available biometric data retention and destruction policy as required by the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
Reported impact
The lawsuit alleges that Cruz's voiceprint was collected and stored without her knowledge or consent, and that Fireflies.AI failed to comply with Illinois BIPA requirements regarding notice, written consent, and data retention policies.
Index analysis
The case highlights risks for employers and organizations using AI meeting assistants, as the tools can automatically record and process voices of meeting participants who have not provided consent or been informed of biometric collection.
Governance controls
Illinois law requires entities collecting biometric identifiers to provide written notice before collection, written notice of retention periods, written consent, and a publicly available biometric data retention and destruction policy.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.