Voice AI in nursing homes: a privacy checklist for administrators
Twelve questions to ask any vendor before putting a microphone and AI in a resident's room — and the answers AskLight gives.
AskLight team · · 2 min read
Putting a microphone in a resident’s room is a serious decision. Before you agree to any voice or AI product, ask these questions — and expect clear, specific answers.
When does it listen?
- Is it always listening, or only when the resident starts it? Prefer devices that are off until the resident acts.
- Can the resident tell when it’s listening? A clear visual indicator matters.
- Can it be paused or disabled remotely? And does pausing clear anything not yet sent?
What leaves the room?
- Is everything streamed, or only speech? Short clips of speech are very different from continuous audio.
- Is it encrypted in transit? It should be, end to end to the service.
- Are there shareable links to recordings? There shouldn’t be.
What’s kept, and for how long?
- When is audio deleted? “Eventually” isn’t an answer. Ask what happens if deletion fails.
- What text is kept? Transcripts and summaries are data too. Ask about retention.
- Is audio used to train AI models?
Who can see what?
- Can staff listen to recordings? Usually they don’t need to.
- Can the vendor’s employees see resident content? Ask how that access is controlled and recorded.
- What shows on staff phone lock screens? Resident details shouldn’t.
AskLight’s answers
- It starts paused and listens only after the resident presses the button; a light shows when it’s listening. Pausing or remote disabling clears unsent audio.
- It sends short clips of speech, not continuous audio, over encrypted connections, to private storage with no public links.
- Audio is deleted as soon as it’s processed, with a cleanup sweep and storage rule as backstops. Tasks keep a short summary for a limited, configured period.
- AskLight does not use residents’ audio to train models.
- Staff see the request, not a recording. AskLight’s internal tools show operational data, not request content.
- Lock screens show only “New care request”.
We also say what we haven’t finished: no certifications yet, and pilot device hardening still in progress. Read more in our trust center.