What happened
Several AI-powered wearables have been introduced, including the Bee, a personal AI system worn as a wristwatch or clip-on, which captures and transcribes conversations in real-time via microphones. The Friend AI pendant also features always-on microphones, connecting via Bluetooth to a phone for conversational text messages. Plaud AI's NotePin and Note Pro devices similarly capture, transcribe, and summarise conversations. These devices integrate AI into daily routines, offering features like advanced health tracking, real-time data insights, and augmented reality.
Why it matters
The introduction of AI wearables with always-on microphones and real-time transcription capabilities creates a visibility gap for recording activity within operational environments. This increases exposure for compliance and legal teams to unmanaged audio data capture, raising due diligence requirements for identifying and addressing recordings created outside established policy workflows. It also places a higher burden on IT security to manage potential new data ingress points and ensure data integrity.
