VendorScore · Comparison · Data-access posture
Evidence dated 2026-10-07, public docs only, not legal advice.
Short answer
All three process your meeting audio, transcripts and notes in plaintext with vendor-managed keys, and none offers end-to-end encryption or customer-managed keys. In the scored configurations, Otter.ai (48/100) has somewhat less inherent vendor read access than Granola (43/100) and Fireflies.ai (42/100); Granola doesn't join as a bot or keep audio, but keeps transcripts indefinitely by default and offers no EU residency.
Higher score = less inherent vendor read access in the scored configuration, not a more secure product. Each score comes from that vendor's VendorScore page.
| Otter.ai | Fireflies.ai | Granola | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 48/100 | 42/100 | 43/100 |
| Scored configuration | Otter Enterprise workspace: AI model training off by default, admin-locked Notetaker auto-join, pre-meeting recording notifications, 'Remove audio recordings', custom retention, SSO/SCIM. | Fireflies Enterprise: Private Storage / bring-your-own-storage (BYOS), Transcript/Summary-Only mode (no audio/video retained), custom retention, Rules Engine, SSO/SCIM. | Granola Enterprise: model training off by default (admin-enforced), transcript auto-deletion set via the account manager, automated chat message or Granola Watermark required by admins. |
| Key custody option | Otter-managed keys (AWS S3 server-side AES-256). No customer-managed key, BYOK or EKM option found. | Vendor-managed encryption; no customer-managed key option found. Enterprise Private Storage (BYOS) keeps data in a bucket you own, but Fireflies must read and write it. | Granola-managed: notes sit in a US-hosted AWS VPC, encrypted at rest and in transit, with no algorithm or key-management detail published and no customer-managed keys. |
| E2EE / CSE scope | None: audio is processed in Otter's cloud for transcription, summaries and AI chat. | None. Fireflies' own docs call AES-256 at rest plus TLS 1.2+ 'end-to-end encryption'; that's server-side and transport encryption, not E2EE. | None. Audio is transcribed by Deepgram and Assembly and then deleted; transcripts and notes are kept indefinitely unless a retention policy is set. |
| AI training default (scored config) | Not used for training by default. Enterprise workspaces are opted out of AI model training by default. Outside Enterprise, de-identified data is used for training automatically. | Not used for training by default. Fireflies says it doesn't use personal information for AI model training and bars its vendors from doing so; its wording isn't fully consistent across pages. | Not used for training by default. Enterprise: off by default, and admins can enforce it. Other plans: anonymized data is used until you opt out. The DPA's §8.B and §8.C training clauses conflict. |
| EU residency | Not offered in public docs; listed subprocessors, including AWS storage, show the United States. | Storage only, and only partly: Private Storage lets Enterprise choose the storage location, but data is processed on Fireflies' US servers. | No: Granola offers no EU, UK or other regional data residency; data is on AWS in the US. |
| DPA link | Otter.ai DPA | Fireflies.ai DPA | Granola DPA |
Dimension scores (key custody, plaintext access, encryption claims, subprocessors, auditability) stay in the full PDFs.
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No. Otter stores data with server-side AES-256 encryption and processes audio in its cloud. A Fireflies Knowledge Base page describes AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2+ in transit as end-to-end encryption, but that's server-side and transport encryption, not E2EE. Granola says notes are encrypted at rest and in transit but publishes no algorithm or key-management detail. None offers customer-managed keys.
In the scored configurations, Otter.ai scores 48/100 (Enterprise workspace), Granola 43/100 (Enterprise with model training off and transcript auto-deletion) and Fireflies.ai 42/100 (Enterprise with Private Storage and Transcript/Summary-Only mode), so Otter has somewhat less inherent vendor read access. Granola and Fireflies are close, and a higher score means more customer control, not a guarantee that the vendor can't access content.
Otter requires explicit customer consent before employees and support access a transcript or audio recording to troubleshoot. Fireflies says its teams don't have access to meeting content by default and any access requires your explicit permission. Granola publishes no staff-access policy; workspace admins can't view your private notes.
Otter: Enterprise workspaces are opted out by default; outside Enterprise, Otter de-identifies user data before training its models. Fireflies' privacy policy says it doesn't use personal information for AI model training, but its DPA lets it create de-identified data to improve its products. Granola: Enterprise has model training off by default; on other plans anonymized data is used until you opt out, and its DPA's §8.B and §8.C training clauses conflict, which we don't resolve.
Otter lists Anthropic and OpenAI as AI subprocessors. Fireflies' docs name OpenAI and Anthropic plus unnamed transcription providers; its full subprocessor list renders only via JavaScript. Granola names Deepgram and Assembly for transcription and OpenAI and Anthropic for AI; its full list is in a JavaScript-only Trust Center we couldn't read.
Otter's public docs don't offer EU hosting, and its listed subprocessors show the United States. Fireflies' Enterprise Private Storage lets you choose where data is stored, but Fireflies says data is processed on its servers in the U.S. Granola says it doesn't offer EU, UK or other regional data residency.
Every URL cited on this page. Scores, configurations and facts come from the linked VendorScore vendor pages and their reports; nothing here goes beyond them.
This comparison restates the vendor pages for the scored configurations only; default setups usually score lower. A higher score means less inherent vendor read access in that configuration, not a safety rating. VendorScore doesn't certify compliance. Public-docs review only. Not a pen test, not legal advice, not a SOC 2 substitute.