Who should have access to interview recordings and transcripts? A role-by-role model
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Fewer people should see an interview recording than see the scorecard. A workable model: each interviewer sees their own recordings; the recruiter or coordinator who owns the role sees recordings for that role; an admin or records owner can reach everything for retention, disputes and candidate requests; other interviewers see nothing before submitting their own scorecard; hiring managers get the scorecard and quoted evidence rather than the recording; and agency clients get nothing by default. Platform defaults are often wider: as of October 2026, Teams gives every internal invitee read access to the recording, and Google Meet gives same-organization participants access through the calendar event.
What principles decide who gets access?
- Minimization and security. UK and EU GDPR require data to be limited to what is necessary and protected against unauthorized processing (Article 5(1)(c) and (f)). A recording holds far more than any one decision needs.
- Independent scoring. Interviewers who hear another interviewer's session, or read their notes, before scoring anchor on it. The scorecard version of this problem is covered in independent interview feedback before the debrief; recordings make it worse, because the whole conversation is available.
- Need to know for medical information. The EEOC says medical information from the hiring process may be shared only with people involved in hiring who need to know it, and that the duty covers information a candidate volunteers (EEOC guidance). Transcripts often contain it; see when the transcript captures protected information.
- Records duties. Someone must still be able to retrieve every recording for its retention period, a legal hold or a candidate's access request, even when the interviewer has left. The schedule is in how long to keep interview notes.
The role-by-role access model
| Role | Recording | Full transcript | Scorecard and summary | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interviewer | Own interviews | Own interviews | Own; others only after submitting | Checks quotes and corrects the record without anchoring on colleagues |
| Recruiter or coordinator for the role | On request, for a reason | For their roles | All, for their roles | Runs the process, writes submittals, answers candidate questions |
| Other panel interviewers | No | No | After submitting their own | Independent scoring |
| Hiring manager | Exceptionally, for a specific answer | No | Yes, with quoted evidence | Decides on evidence, not on everything the candidate said |
| Agency client | Not by default | Not by default | The submittal | Separate organization; see sharing recordings with clients |
| Admin or records owner | All | All | All | Retention, holds, disputes, access requests; access should be logged |
| Trainers and coaches | Only where the notice covers it | Excerpts | No | See using recordings for training |
| The candidate | On request | On request | On request | Access rights; see candidate data access requests |
What do the platforms give by default?
From each vendor's documentation, as of October 2026. Check the linked page for your plan before changing settings.
| Platform | Default access | Settings that narrow it | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Teams | Recording saves to the organizer's OneDrive. Every invitee from the organizer's organization automatically gets a personally shared link with read access; external participants get none unless the organizer shares it. Organizers and co-organizers can edit and share. | The meeting option for who can access the recording and transcript: Everyone (the default), Organizers and co-organizers, or Specific people. Microsoft says it needs a Teams Premium license or its AI assistant license, is not available for channel or ad hoc meetings, and stops applying once someone shares the recording link. | Microsoft Learn; Microsoft Support |
| Google Meet | Recording saves in the organizer's Drive. The organizer and the person who started the recording get the link by email; individual participants in the organizer's organization get access through the Calendar event. | Change sharing on the file in Drive after the meeting; groups do not get automatic access. | Google Meet Help |
| Zoom | Users see their own cloud recordings; account owners and admins can view all account recordings. | Per recording, "Who can view" ranges from everyone with the link to "Nobody else can view"; you can set an expiration date, allow or block downloads, and show or hide the transcript. | Zoom Support |
| Greenhouse Notetaker | Site Admins can access all recordings, transcripts and AI notes; interviewers their own; Job Admins with the right permission stripe, on jobs they administer. | The Job Admin permission "Can view interview recordings and transcripts on other scorecards". Only Site Admins can download candidate packets with Notetaker data, and packet links expire after seven days. | Security FAQ; Using Notetaker |
| Ashby AI Notetaker | Meeting participants have access to their own recording in the interview briefing. | Grant wider viewing through the "Can See Meeting Recordings" permission in an access role. Sharing is a separate setting; the "Can grant meeting recording access" permission is on for Admin Private by default; letting limited-access interviewers grant access is off by default; confidential job recordings can only go to people with access to the job; access can be revoked. | Ashby docs; Ashby update, August 26, 2026 |
The Teams and Meet defaults matter most for panels. If four interviewers are on one invite, all four can usually open the recording of a session they did not attend, before writing their own scorecard.
How do you set it up?
- Decide who organizes interviews. In Teams and Meet the organizer's account holds the recording. Scheduling from the recruiting team keeps recordings with the people who own the process, instead of in each hiring manager's drive.
- Narrow the meeting default. In Teams, set recording access to organizers and co-organizers where your license allows; in Zoom, make "Nobody else can view" the starting point and share per request with an expiry date.
- Set ATS permissions by role. Give recording and transcript access on other people's scorecards only to recruiting leads and records owners; leave interviewers with their own.
- Turn off automatic summary emails to all attendees, or check what they contain; a summary sent to everyone is access for everyone.
- Block downloads by default. A downloaded file escapes every permission above.
- Review access every quarter and when people leave; see interview recordings when a recruiter leaves.
- Log access to sensitive recordings where the tool keeps an audit log, and ask vendors that do not whether they can; question 27 of the security questionnaire covers it.
When does someone outside the model need to hear a recording?
Exceptions will come up. Handle each as a one-off grant, with a reason, an end date and a line in a log, rather than widening the role.
| Situation | Who gets access | How |
|---|---|---|
| A candidate complains or files a charge | HR and employment counsel | The records owner exports the material and places a hold; nobody edits or deletes anything |
| The debrief splits on what a candidate said | The recruiter checks the specific passage | Read the quote back to the group; do not circulate the recording |
| Interviewer calibration | The calibration group | Only where the recording notice covers review by the hiring team; otherwise use excerpts or mock interviews |
| A client asks to hear an answer | Named client recipients | Only with the candidate's specific agreement, as an expiring link to a short clip |
| A candidate asks for their data | The candidate | The records owner compiles recordings, transcripts and notes within the legal deadline |
What should you tell a candidate who asks where the notes go?
Candidates increasingly ask, and an access model gives you a short, true answer. Example, adjusted to your setup:
"I'm transcribing so I can focus on you rather than my notes. The
transcript is only seen by me and our recruiting team. The hiring
manager gets a written scorecard, not the recording. We keep it for
[period] and then delete it, and you can ask for a copy at any point.
If you'd prefer I don't transcribe, that's fine and won't affect
anything."Tools differ in how much they expose by design. We make Interview Signal, which keeps transcripts and notes on the interviewer's own computer, and in panels shares only which questions each interviewer marked as asked, not scores and never transcripts. Whatever you use, the model above is the target; the data map for AI note takers shows where each copy lives.
Not legal advice. Access rules for medical and other sensitive information vary by jurisdiction.
Questions people ask
Who should be able to watch interview recordings?
As few people as the process needs: the interviewer for their own interviews, the recruiter or coordinator who owns the role, and an admin or records owner for retention, disputes and candidate requests. Other interviewers should not see recordings before submitting their own scorecard, hiring managers usually need the scorecard rather than the recording, and agency clients should not get recordings by default.
Who can see a Teams interview recording by default?
Microsoft's documentation says the recording saves to the organizer's OneDrive and every meeting invitee from the organizer's organization automatically gets a personally shared link with read access, while external participants such as candidates get no access unless the organizer shares it. With a Teams Premium license the organizer can limit access to organizers and co-organizers.
Should hiring managers have access to interview transcripts?
Usually not to the full transcript. A transcript contains everything the candidate said, including personal details that should not influence the decision. Give hiring managers the scorecard with quoted evidence, and let them ask the recruiter to check a specific answer if they need more.
What should I tell a candidate who asks where my interview notes go?
Tell them plainly who can see what and for how long: for example, that the transcript is seen only by you and the recruiting team, that the hiring manager sees a written scorecard, that it is kept for a stated period and then deleted, and that they can ask for a copy or object to recording.