When the Meeting Kept Recording

The tenants' committee bought a small device to produce automatic meeting notes. It saved secretary Ewan hours of typing, and the first transcript was surprisingly readable. After their monthly meeting, two residents stayed behind to discuss a dispute privately. Neither noticed that the blue light on the device was still glowing beside a pile of empty cups.

The next morning, Ewan received the complete transcript. He stopped reading when he realised that the official meeting had ended. The private conversation concerned the committee chair, who usually received every document automatically. Ewan disconnected that sharing setting before sending anything. He then faced an awkward question: should he tell the residents exactly how much the machine had captured?

He phoned them both and described the mistake without repeating their words. One wanted immediate deletion; the other wanted a copy because the discussion included an important promise. Ewan could not satisfy both requests at once. With their agreement, he kept the file inaccessible while they discussed a shared written summary. He also informed the chair that a privacy incident had occurred, without naming its subject.

At the next meeting, the device sat beside a large red card reading Recording ends here. More importantly, somebody was assigned to switch it off and confirm the light had gone out. The residents eventually approved their own summary, and Ewan deleted the recording. The official notes became slightly less automatic. He still finished them faster than before, but he no longer mistook a convenient tool for a secretary who knew when to leave the room.