Biometric Data Policy

Last updated: November 1, 2026

This policy explains how Plaud collects, uses, stores, discloses, and destroys biometric data in connection with the features described below. It serves as Plaud's publicly available biometric data retention and destruction policy where required by applicable law, including Section 15(a) of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, and supplements our Privacy Policy.

1. What this policy covers

This policy covers biometric data processed in connection with Label my voice, the Plaud feature that labels your own speech in your own recordings, and in connection with separating different speakers within a recording.

Audio recordings, transcripts, and summaries are addressed in our Privacy Policy. This policy also applies to your voice profile or voice-derived measurement to the extent it is processed for the purposes described below.

2. What data we process

Your voice profile

When you set up Label my voice, we create a voice profile from a short voice sample to automatically tag you. We store that profile on Plaud's servers, and apply the safeguards and retention requirements in this policy to the profile.

Voice measurements

To find your voice in a recording, Plaud derives temporary measurements of voices in the recording and compares them with your voice profile. These mathematical measurements may constitute biometric data under applicable law. They exist only while the recording is processed and are then discarded. They are never stored.

3. When we process biometric data

Your own voice

Label my voice is off by default and requires your affirmative consent before enrollment. Before your voice profile is created, we explain what is collected, the purpose, and the retention period. If you decline, no voice profile is created and other Plaud features work as normal.

Other people in your recordings

Voice measurements may be derived from the voices of other people in your recordings to distinguish speakers and identify your own voice. These temporary measurements are discarded after processing, are not stored, and are not used to identify other speakers across recordings.

Other speakers appear in your transcript as Speaker 1, Speaker 2, and so on. If you rename a speaker, that name is saved as text in that recording only. It is not used to recognize that person in any other recording.

4. What we use it for

We use voice measurements to distinguish speakers within a recording and, when Label my voice is enabled, to recognize and label your speech in your recordings. Your voice profile is used to provide Label my voice. We do not use voice profiles or measurements covered by this policy to train AI models unless we obtain your express consent.

5. How long we keep it

The following is our biometric data retention and destruction schedule, including for purposes of Section 15(a) of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act.

Data	How long we keep it	When it is destroyed
Your voice profile	Until you delete it or your account	Within 30 days after you delete it or your account, including from backups. In any case, no later than two years after your last interaction with Plaud, or earlier if the purpose for keeping it ends.
Voice measurements	Only while a recording is processed	When processing of that recording ends. Never stored.
Consent records (not biometric data)	Five years after your last interaction, so we can show what you agreed to and when	At the end of that period

6. How we destroy it

When a destruction trigger is met:

Your voice profile is deleted from primary storage and from all replicas and caches.
It is removed from backups at the end of backup rotation cycle, within 30 days.
Destruction is permanent and irreversible. A destroyed profile cannot be restored, and Label my voice is turned off.
Completion of destruction is logged with a timestamp.

Destruction is carried out by automated, scheduled processes rather than manual handling. If a destruction process fails, it is escalated internally and re-run.

Where the law requires us to keep it. We may retain biometric data beyond a scheduled destruction date only where retention is required by law, for example, a legal hold or a preservation order. Where that happens, the data is segregated, access is restricted to the purpose requiring retention, and it is destroyed as soon as that requirement ends. We do not rely on this exception for ordinary business purposes.

7. Disclosure

We do not sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from biometric data.

We do not disclose biometric data to anyone except our service providers that process it for us, or where you consent, where the law requires it, or where a valid warrant or subpoena issued by a court requires it.

8. Security

We protect biometric data using the reasonable standard of care within our industry, and in a manner at least as protective as the way we protect other confidential and sensitive information.

9. Your choices and rights

Everyone

Decline. Label my voice is off by default. You may decline without losing access to other available Plaud services.
Withdraw. You may delete your voice profile in Settings to withdraw your consent. Your recordings, transcripts, and existing text labels remain available.
Contact us. You may contact privacy@plaud.ai to inquire about biometric data we process about you or request its deletion, subject to applicable law.

Illinois, Texas, Washington, and Colorado

Where applicable law requires notice, consent, or a written release before collecting or using a biometric identifier, we obtain the required authorization before the relevant processing. Under Illinois BIPA, an electronic signature may constitute a written release if the applicable requirements are satisfied.

European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland

Where voice data is processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying an individual and qualifies as special category personal data under the EU or UK GDPR, we rely on an applicable lawful basis under Article 6 and, where required, explicit consent under Article 9(2)(a). You may withdraw consent and exercise applicable data protection rights as described in our Privacy Policy. International transfers are addressed in that policy.

Japan

Where voice-derived information qualifies as personal information or an individual identification code under Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information, we comply with applicable requirements concerning purposes of use, third-party disclosures, cross-border transfers, and individual rights. You may contact privacy@plaud.ai regarding those rights.

Other jurisdictions

Where applicable law requires opt-in consent for the collection or use of biometric or sensitive personal data, we obtain such consent before the relevant processing.

10. Children

Label my voice is not intended for users who have not reached the age required to provide valid consent in their location. If we learn that a voice profile was enrolled without the required valid consent, we will disable the feature and arrange for deletion in accordance with applicable law.