Granola makes meeting notes accessible to anyone with the link — even without your knowledge

Users of the AI application Granola have made an unpleasant discovery: despite claiming privacy by default, meeting notes are actually accessible to anyone who has a direct link. Moreover, the service uses this data for internal training of AI models—unless the user disables this feature manually.

Granola positions itself as an 'AI notebook for those who hold meetings back-to-back.' The application connects to your calendar, records audio of conversations, and uses AI to automatically generate a structured summary—a list of key points from the discussion. Users can edit the generated text, invite colleagues for collaborative work, and ask questions about the discussion through a built-in AI assistant.

The problem is that the access model works differently than users expect. On its security policy page, Granola claims that notes are 'private by default,' but technically this only means they are not publicly indexed. Anyone who obtains a direct link to a note can open it without any restrictions.

For corporate users discussing strategy, personnel matters, or financial figures, this model presents a real risk of data leakage.

A separate issue is the use of data for model training. By default, the content of notes can be used to improve Granola's AI systems. To disable this, you must find the corresponding setting and manually uncheck the box. Most users are unaware of this option.

This situation fits into a broader trend: AI tools for work often collect and process sensitive data without transparent notification to users. Corporate negotiations, deal details, personnel discussions—all of this ends up in the databases of services whose policies are written to formally comply with the law but actually grant maximum freedom for content use.

If you use Granola, you should go to settings right now: check who has access to your notes via link, and disable data transmission for model training if you're not ready to share the content of your work meetings. It will take two minutes but can prevent unwanted consequences.