Your recordings and transcripts are never shared or used for anything but your job (and the required safety check for online jobs).
Last updated October 28, 2026.
TranscriptLive was built by a working court reporter who handles confidential testimony every day. We treat your recordings the way you do.
| When you... | Where it is | How long it stays |
|---|---|---|
| Process online | Our secure server in the United States, then our transcription service. Along with the audio, TL sends the job's spellings, word lists, and people's names so they come out spelled right; the service does not keep them either. The recording reaches our server as "recording" with a plain title (the day and the length); its own file name and the job's title stay on your computer. | Your recording and job files are deleted from the server when the job finishes. Your finished draft is deleted from the server once TL downloads it to your computer. The transcription service keeps no audio and no text after it returns the result (zero data retention). |
| Never download a finished online job | Our server | Deleted after 14 days. |
| Start a job that stops, or an upload you do not finish | Our server | Deleted within 14 days. |
| Have a job paused at your budget limit | Our server | Jobs paused at your budget limit: deleted within 14 days. |
| Server backups | Our secure server | Encrypted. Account and job records, feedback notes, the names and email addresses of people you send jobs to, the names and email addresses on your links, the list of computers on your account, and beta sign-up details with any referral answer. Never recordings, transcripts, shared calendar dates, your calendar subscription, settings kept with your account, or forwarded notices. A backup made while a job is open can include the job's title and people's names. Kept 14 days, then deleted. |
| Use Delete My Data, or ask us to delete your data | Our server, and your computer | We delete your online jobs, feedback notes, error reports, support chat messages, scopist copies, links, the list of computers on your account, shared calendar dates, your calendar subscription, settings kept with your account, forwarded notice settings with any waiting proposed bookings, beta sign-up details and referral answers, and contact details, and your email address is taken out of our records. On your computer, TL also deletes your People I Work With list, the list of features you have tried, the copies of notes and log sheets kept for jobs still being set up, and any job or files sent to you that you downloaded but did not open yet. We keep your billing and usage records, your signed agreements (including the Beta License you accepted), a dated record of each step (with no recordings, transcripts, or email addresses), the record of any forwarding address name you used (so no one else can ever use it), and your sign-in record. Ask us and we turn off your sign-in for good. Backups clear within 14 days after that. |
| When TL has a problem | Our server | An automatic error report with the kind of error, the place in TL where it happened, the TL version, and the Windows version, linked to your account. It never includes names, file names, folder paths, error messages, recordings, or transcript words. It is kept until you use Delete My Data. |
| Send a job to a scopist or proofreader | Our server, then the person you choose | The job copy, and the recording only if you include it, is locked on your computer before it is sent, so only the person you name can open it, and only on a computer that person has confirmed. Our server carries the copy but cannot open it. A copy sent from an earlier version of TL, before the update that brought this lock, is encrypted by our server instead and follows the same deletion times. Our server keeps the list of computers on each account (each computer's name, its lock key, and the dates it was added, confirmed, or removed) so copies can be locked for them; Delete My Data removes that list. Break talk TL is sure of, and any Social Security number said off the record, is taken out of the job copy. Numbers said before the record opens or after it closes leave the job files only when TL is sure of the opening or closing, or after the reporter chooses Leave out; otherwise the draft hides them until the reporter chooses Keep. Numbers said on the record are never changed. A recording you include is the original audio, unchanged, so it still holds everything that was said. An unopened copy is deleted after 7 days, and a downloaded one 14 days after it was sent. A copy sent back to you is deleted once your TL collects it, and no later than 30 days after it arrives. A job or set of files sent to you that you downloaded but did not open yet waits on your computer only until it opens, until the sender takes it back, it expires, or you remove it from your list, and for 30 days at most. |
| Make a job from your own files, or send them to a scopist or proofreader | Your computer; when you send them, our server, then the person you choose | TL keeps copies of the files you choose (such as a transcript, a CAT file, or a recording) with the job on your computer, and never reads what is inside them. They are never sent to our transcription service. When you send them, they are locked on your computer the same way as a job copy, so only the person you name can open them, and only on a computer that person has confirmed. Because TL never reads your own files, TL cannot take anything out of them, so what is in them is up to you. Files that can run a program are never sent. An unopened copy is deleted after 7 days, and a downloaded one 14 days after it was sent. A copy sent back to you is deleted once your TL collects it, and no later than 30 days after it arrives. |
| Add notes, a log sheet, or a case paper in Step 2 (a court log sheet, typed notes, an exhibit list or other case paper, or a photo of the TL notes form) | Your computer only, kept with the job | TL reads log sheets, typed notes, and case papers on this computer and does not send them with the recording. A photo of the TL notes form is kept with the job and is not read yet. Picture pages of a PDF log sheet are read with the text recognition built into Windows, on this computer. A job you send to your scopist or proofreader carries what TL read from them for this job (Your Notes for TL and the names you kept in Spellings), not the files themselves. Names TL adds from a log sheet or case paper to the Spellings box are sent with the recording like any spelling, and you can delete any of them first. They stay with the job until you delete it. |
| Choose FTR court recordings (a folder or a zip) | Your computer, in TL's own folder for that job | Your FTR files and the zip are never changed. TL makes one copy for the job; for an online job that copy is sent like any recording, and the time not recorded between sessions is never sent. |
| Choose a Digital Court Recorder file (.dcr) | Your computer, in TL's own folder for that job | Your .dcr file is never changed. TL makes one copy of the microphones you select; for an online job that copy is sent like any recording, and a cleared microphone is never sent. The recorder's operator and computer details in the file are never kept, shown, or sent. |
| Check a finished transcript (Final Check) | Your computer only | TL reads the file on your computer and never changes it. Nothing is sent online. A report is saved only when you press Save, in the job's export folder or next to the transcript you checked, and Send to Scopist never sends a Final Check report. |
| Chat with TL Support | Our server | Your messages and TL Support's answers, with your TL version and Windows version on each message to help us answer. Please leave out passwords and confidential case details. Download My Data lists your chat messages, and Delete My Data deletes them. |
| Keep your settings with your account | Our server, in its own file kept apart from our backups | Your Settings and Formatting choices (such as font, margins, and review and export choices) and how far you are in setup are kept with your account, so they load when you sign in on another computer. They are encrypted on our server with a key made for your account. Words you type yourself are never kept with your account: parenthetical and closing line wording, saved profile names, word lists, People I Work With, speaker names, and title page details. Neither are your folders, file paths, or password. If our server can no longer read your kept settings, each computer says so once and sends its own choices again. Download My Data includes them. Delete My Data deletes them at once. |
| Forward a job notice to your TL forwarding address (the name you chose, at in.transcriptlive.com) | Our mail service, then our secure server in the United States, kept apart from our backups, then your computer | TL takes only the job details the notice states (date, time, place or video link, case name and number, witness, agency, job number, ordering attorney and firm, the attorneys it names, due dates, what is requested, and the expected length) and shows them on your computer as a proposed booking. If you accept or decline a forwarded job notice, TL emails your reply to the sender of that notice. For this, our server keeps the sender's address with the proposed booking for up to 7 days. No other email address or phone number from it is kept. Nothing is added to your calendar until you choose Add to Calendar. The rest of the email is not kept by our server. A notice file attached to the email is read once to fill in the booking and never kept. Nothing from the email or its attachments is sent to our transcription service. TL remembers only the web address ending of the agency that sent a notice (for example agency.com), to suggest the agency next time. The proposed booking is deleted from our server as soon as your TL collects it, or after 7 days if it is never collected. Our mail service deletes its copy of the email, including any attachments, after 7 days. A notice you forward waits on our server until your TL picks it up, then it is deleted at once. One that is never picked up is deleted after 7 days. Turning off forwarding deletes any that are waiting. Forwarded notices are never in our backups. Only email from your own account address, with a signature your email service adds, is accepted. So that the same notice is not proposed twice, our server keeps a one-way fingerprint of each accepted email's message ID (never the email itself) for about 15 days. Our server also keeps a record of each forwarding address name you used, which account it belongs to, and the dates it was in use (never your email address), so that no one else can ever use that name. This record stays even after you change your name, turn forwarding off, or use Delete My Data. |
| Link with a scopist, proofreader, or agency | Our server | Both of you must accept before a link is made. We keep the names, email addresses, and role for the link, and a dated history of each step. A request nobody answers expires after 30 days. The name of someone who declines, and the email on a request that ended, are deleted 30 days later. Either of you can unlink at any time. Delete My Data removes your links. |
| Share your due dates with a linked person | Our server, then the TL of that person | Nothing is shared unless the reporter chooses it. A reporter shares only with a linked person they choose, and shares only job dates and due dates, the type of job, and any short label they type. Never case names or witness names. They show read-only on that person's calendar. They are kept apart from our backups, so Stop Sharing, unlinking, or Delete My Data deletes them from our server at once. |
| Subscribe to your TL calendar in another calendar app | Our server, kept apart from our backups, then the calendar app you subscribe with | Off until you turn it on. Only the date, time, and place of your bookings from the last 30 days through the next 12 months, with "Remote" for a remote booking. The agency that booked a job only if you select it, and video links for remote bookings only if you choose to show them. Never case names, witness names, notes, notice files, jobs, transcripts, or recordings. Anyone who has your private calendar address can see these details, so keep it private. If you show video links, anyone with the address can see and use them, so they could join the meeting. You can reset the address at any time, and the old one stops working at once. Turning the subscription off, or Delete My Data, deletes our copy at once. Your calendar app keeps its own copy under its own terms, and may keep showing bookings it already copied until it refreshes or you remove that calendar there. Changes can take up to a day to appear in some calendar apps. |
| Remember people you work with | Your computer only | Only if you choose Remember this person, or add someone in People I Work With. TL keeps the name, title, role, firm, and spelling on your computer. Never witnesses, voices, or case details. The list is never sent to our server, a scopist, or an error report. Kept until you delete it; Delete My Data deletes it too. |
| Apply to test TL (beta sign-up) | Our secure server in the United States | The details from your sign-up form are kept so we can set up your account. Only TL administrators see them; they are never sent to our transcription service or shared. They are included in Download My Data and deleted when you use Delete My Data, when you are removed as a tester, or 90 days after your access ends (or 90 days after you were added, if you are never invited). Encrypted backups clear within 14 days after that. If you answer "Who referred you?", we also keep your answer and the referral partner we record for you. Only TL administrators see them; the person who referred you never sees that you signed up. Download My Data includes your own answer. They are deleted when you use Delete My Data, or 90 days after your access ends (or 90 days after we record your sign-up, if you are never invited), and backups clear within 14 days after that. |
| Join the waitlist | Our website host, then our secure server in the United States | The name, email address, and answers from the waitlist form are kept so we can email you about TL and when TL opens to more users. Each email has a Stop link. If you answer "Who referred you?", we also keep your answer so we can credit the person who referred you; they never see that you joined. Only TL administrators see them; they are never sent to our transcription service or shared. They are deleted when you ask us to remove you (write to support@transcriptlive.com), when you use Delete My Data, or 90 days after TL launches, whichever comes first. When your entry is removed, TL deletes your entry in the website form automatically. So that an entry you sent before your removal is never added again, TL keeps only a scrambled code made from your email address, which cannot be read back as your address, with the date you were removed. |
| Beta testers: the webinar invite and the launch-day email | Our server, from your TL account email | Only your email address and the date. We may send you one webinar invite and the launch-day email, each with a stop link. This list is deleted with the waitlist 90 days after launch. Your TL account is not affected. |
| Buy hours or a plan, or start a free trial | Our payment service's own secure page, then our server | A payment service handles cards. You enter your card details on its own secure page, and no card number ever reaches TL. Our server keeps your plan, the hours you bought, and your payments and refunds as billing records. To allow one free trial per card, TL keeps a scrambled code from the payment service that identifies the card, never the card number. Billing records, including this code, are kept after Delete My Data, as listed above. |
| Give permission to quote you (testimonials) | Our server | Only with your permission. We keep your permission, the quote as you approved it, and how you want to be named, with the date. Nothing is published automatically. If you withdraw your permission, TL Support takes your quote down wherever we used it within 2 business days. Delete My Data deletes the record and withdraws your permission. |
| Our monthly business records | Our server | Once a month we make an encrypted copy of our business records: the agreements accepted, plan and hours history, and our admin change log. It holds account numbers only: no names, no email addresses, and no typed notes. Never recordings, transcripts, job titles, or the names of people in your jobs. Kept 12 months, then deleted. |
| Match voices online | Our server, then our transcription service | A short stretch of the recording, at most a little over two minutes at a time, is sent to find who is speaking. Our server does not store it: it is removed as soon as the match is done. |
| Send feedback | Our server | The text you type is sent, with the part of TL you pick and the TL version. Four times a day, the notes shared since the last time are put into one file for TranscriptLive's owner only. The file holds each note with the part of TL, your account number, and the name TL Support sees for you, never your email address. It is encrypted like our backups and kept 14 days, then deleted. The same notes are also emailed to the owner, with your first name and email address so we can reply. |
TranscriptLive, LLC, 1870 The Exchange SE Ste 220 PMB 186382, Atlanta, Georgia 30339-2171 US
Email TL Support at support@transcriptlive.com, including to ask us to delete your data. TL Support replies within 1 business day, and the same day when possible for an urgent billing problem.