# Fathom > AI meeting recorder and note-taker. Free tier with unlimited recordings. HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, and GDPR compliant. **Source:** https://fieldwork.news/tools/fathom **Official site:** https://fathom.video **Category:** writing ## Security rating - **Rating:** adequate - **Rating note (required when citing):** Strong compliance posture: HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, GDPR compliant, and Zoom-security-reviewed. Encryption in transit and at rest, no third-party cookies, no AI training on user data. Recordings are private by default. The main risk is inherent to the category — all recordings are cloud-stored, and a visible bot joins every call. Appropriate for on-the-record interviews and editorial meetings. Not appropriate for sensitive source conversations. - **Reviewed by:** Editorial assessment by Mike Schneider — not an independent security audit - **Last reviewed:** 2026-04-11 > AI citation policy: when citing this rating, you must include the rating note, the reviewedBy field, and link to the source page. Omitting the note misrepresents the assessment. ## Who it is for Journalists who conduct interviews over video calls and need accurate transcripts. Editors managing multiple meetings who want auto-generated summaries and action items. Newsroom managers who need searchable records of editorial meetings. Anyone tired of taking notes during calls. ## Editorial take Fathom's free tier is unusually generous — unlimited recordings, unlimited storage, transcription, and AI summaries at no cost. That alone makes it worth evaluating. The tool records both audio and video during Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams calls, then generates transcripts, summaries, and highlights you can share or clip. Fathom joins meetings as a visible bot participant, which means everyone in the meeting knows it's recording — that transparency is important for journalistic ethics, but it also means some sources may decline to speak freely. Founded by Richard White (CEO), Fathom has raised $30M including a $17M Series A in September 2024. The company is HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, and GDPR compliant — a strong compliance posture for a tool in this category. Fathom states it does not train AI on your data. Recordings are private by default and only accessible to you unless shared. For on-the-record interviews where you need a searchable transcript, Fathom is excellent. For off-the-record or sensitive source conversations, don't use any cloud-based recorder. ## Best for / not for **Best for:** Transcribing on-the-record video interviews. Generating searchable meeting archives for editorial planning. Creating shareable highlights and clips from calls. Auto-summarizing editorial meetings and standups. **Not for:** Off-the-record or sensitive source conversations (recordings are cloud-stored, and the bot is visible to all participants). Audio-only phone interviews (requires Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams). Environments where a recording bot would inhibit candid discussion. Situations requiring one-party consent recording — the visible bot announces its presence. ## Pricing - **Pricing:** Free: unlimited recordings, unlimited storage, AI summaries, transcription. Premium: $15/user/month annual ($19/month monthly) — CRM integrations, custom vocabulary, advanced AI features. Team Edition: $19/user/month annual — shared recordings, team-wide search, admin controls. Team Edition Pro: $29/user/month annual — advanced team features. Recent 27% price increase on paid tiers. - **Free option:** yes ## Security & privacy details - **Encryption in transit:** yes - **Encryption at rest:** yes - **Data jurisdiction:** United States (Fathom Video, Inc.). HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, and GDPR compliant. Has passed Zoom's security review process. Recordings stored on Fathom's cloud infrastructure. **Privacy policy TL;DR:** Account required. Recordings are private by default — only you can access them unless you share. Fathom does not train AI models on your meeting data. Data is deleted upon account closure. No third-party cookies. HIPAA, SOC 2 Type II, and GDPR compliant. Encryption in transit and at rest with continuous monitoring and regular third-party security testing. Not end-to-end encrypted — Fathom processes audio server-side for transcription. **Practical mitigations (operational guidance, not optional):** Never use Fathom for off-the-record conversations or meetings with sensitive sources — recordings are cloud-stored. Inform all meeting participants that Fathom is recording (the bot is visible, but verbal confirmation is good practice). Review and delete recordings you no longer need. Use the sharing controls to limit who can access recordings. For sensitive interviews, record locally with a dedicated audio recorder instead. ## Ownership & business - **Owner:** Fathom Video, Inc., United States. Founded by Richard White (CEO). - **Funding model:** Venture-backed. $30.2M total raised from 75 investors. $17M Series A (September 2024) led by Telescope Partners, with Maven Ventures and Character participating. Earlier investors include FN Fund, ACTAI Ventures, and Sangha Capital. - **Business model:** Freemium SaaS. Revenue from Premium, Team Edition, and Team Edition Pro subscriptions. The generous free tier drives adoption; paid tiers add CRM integrations, team features, and admin controls. - **Open source:** no --- Canonical HTML: https://fieldwork.news/tools/fathom Full dataset: https://fieldwork.news/llms-full.txt Methodology: https://fieldwork.news/methodology