What happens to your audio when you transcribe a WhatsApp voice message
Updated
It depends on where the transcription happens. If you forward the voice message to a bot or use an extension that transcribes in the cloud, the audio goes to another service’s servers; with WhatsApp’s built-in transcripts on your phone and with Prontei on your computer, the audio is transcribed on the device itself.
Summary
Based on each service’s official policies and pages, checked up to October 31, 2026. It describes what each company documents, not an independent audit.
| Option | Where the audio is transcribed | Who receives the audio or text | What the policy says about keeping it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bot (e.g. ViraTexto) | On the service’s servers | The bot’s service, because you forward the message | ViraTexto’s terms allow keeping the content sent for five years |
| Cloud transcription extension | On the extension’s or a provider’s servers | The extension’s company and the providers it uses | Varies: SozAI keeps transcripts until you delete them; Kaption says it discards the audio |
| Meta AI (ordinary chat) | On Meta’s servers | Meta AI can read what you share with it | WhatsApp says shared content can be used to improve Meta’s AI |
| WhatsApp’s built-in transcripts | On the device itself, according to WhatsApp | According to WhatsApp, not even WhatsApp can read the transcripts | Transcripts are generated on the device |
| Prontei | On your computer | Prontei doesn’t receive your audio or transcripts | Transcripts stay saved on your computer |
Transcription bots
To use a bot, you forward the voice message to its number. From then on, the message is in another service’s hands, under that service’s rules. ViraTexto’s terms (version of October 2, 2026, section “Armazenamento e expurgo de dados”) allow its operator, Blip, to keep the content of messages sent to it for five years. That doesn’t prove every voice message is kept that long; it shows what the terms allow.
Extensions that transcribe in the cloud
These extensions live in WhatsApp Web but send the audio to a server. Their policies differ, so you can’t generalize:
- SozAI’s policy (October 12, 2026) says audio goes over an encrypted connection to its servers, and that audio and transcripts are kept until you delete them. It also says it doesn’t use the data to train models.
- Kaption’s policy (updated October 12, 2026) says audio is sent for processing and discarded once the transcript is returned.
Meta AI
Chatting with Meta AI is a separate thing from voice message transcription. When you share content with Meta AI in an ordinary chat, WhatsApp’s help center says Meta AI can read what’s shared and use it to improve Meta’s AI models. There are exceptions: features using Private Processing and Incognito Chat work differently. None of this happens if you don’t use Meta AI.
WhatsApp’s built-in transcripts
WhatsApp says transcripts are generated on your device and that not even WhatsApp can read them. So, by WhatsApp’s account, turning on built-in transcription on your phone doesn’t send your audio to Meta. The feature works on phones and, according to WhatsApp’s help center, has only rolled out on some devices.
Prontei
WhatsApp transcribes on your phone; Prontei brings local transcription to WhatsApp Web on your computer. In practice:
- Audio is transcribed on your computer. Prontei doesn’t receive your audio or transcripts.
- The model comes from Hugging Face, with your permission. As with any download, Hugging Face receives your IP address, but not your audio.
- Usage and error data is optional and off by default. If you turn it on, it never includes audio, transcripts, message text or contacts.
- Prontei doesn’t use your data to train models, doesn’t sell data and doesn’t use it for advertising.
- Transcripts stay saved on your computer. Anyone using the same computer and browser can see them. Disabling the extension deletes nothing; uninstalling deletes the transcripts, preferences and models.
WhatsApp Web still uses WhatsApp’s own services, as always. The details are in Prontei’s privacy policy, including what usage data includes.