Hedy EU Data Residency in 2026 (European Storage for Your AI Meeting Coach)

Hedy is now a GDPR-compliant AI meeting assistant with full EU data residency. Starting with version 2.15, new users choose where their conversation data lives: the European Union or the United States. If you pick Europe, your conversations are stored on servers physically located in the EU.

Why EU Data Residency Matters for AI Meeting Tools

Hedy processes real conversations. Business strategy sessions, coaching calls, job interviews, legal consultations, client negotiations. The content of those conversations is sensitive, and where that data physically resides is not a trivial detail.

Consider a consultant in Vienna discussing proprietary business strategy with a client. Or a coach in Berlin running a leadership development session. Or a journalist in Amsterdam conducting a sensitive source interview. These are conversations where data residency is not an abstract policy question. It directly affects whether these professionals can use the tool at all.

For European professionals, data sovereignty has become a practical requirement. Many organizations can only adopt AI tools that store personal data within EU borders. GDPR sets the regulatory framework, but beyond compliance, people simply want to know their conversations are not sitting on a server in another continent.

We built EU data residency because our European users asked for it and because it was the right thing to do.

How EU Data Residency Works in Hedy

When new users sign up for Hedy, they see a simple choice during onboarding: European Union or United States. Hedy suggests a region based on the user’s location, but the choice is theirs. Once selected, that region is permanent.

For users who choose the EU, all conversation data is processed and stored on European servers. This includes transcripts, summaries, highlights, topics, chat history, custom contexts, and user preferences.

Cloud storage of conversations only applies to users who have cloud sync enabled. Users without cloud sync have their conversations stored exclusively on their own device. The data residency choice determines where your data goes if and when you use cloud sync.

Some operational services remain US-based for all users: account authentication, subscription billing, and error tracking. Our email service providers are also US-based, which means auto-recap emails that include session summaries and notes are sent through US infrastructure. If this is a concern, you can disable auto-recap emails in your settings and review session content directly within the app, where it stays in your chosen region. This separation between conversation storage and operational services is disclosed in our privacy policy.

A Bot-Free, On-Device Approach to Conversation Privacy

Most AI meeting assistants work by joining your call as a visible bot participant, recording everything, and sending it to their servers for processing. Hedy works differently.

Hedy’s speech recognition runs locally on your device. Your audio is transcribed on your phone, tablet, or computer without being sent anywhere. There is no bot joining your meeting. No third-party participant appearing in your call. Nobody on the other end of the conversation needs to know you are using Hedy at all.

This on-device approach means that for many users, the most sensitive part of the process, converting speech to text, never touches a server. It happens entirely on hardware you control.

In the default cloud mode, when Hedy generates summaries, automatic suggestions, or insights, your transcript content is sent to our AI processing partners for analysis. It is processed in memory, not stored on their servers, and never used to train AI models. On capable hardware, Local AI Processing keeps that analysis on your own device. We have binding agreements with all AI providers that prohibit any use of your data for model training.

For users who select the EU region, this AI processing also happens in Europe. So your conversations are not only stored in Europe, they are analyzed there too.

Who Processes EU Conversations: Inceptron

Cloud AI processing for the EU data region now runs on Inceptron, an AI inference company based in Lund, Sweden, with GPU capacity in Finland and France. Our data processing agreement with Inceptron limits processing to the EU and EEA, and Inceptron does not store request or response content or use it to train models. EU accounts, and older accounts that opted into EU AI processing, get this automatically, with nothing to set up.

If Inceptron is unavailable, Hedy falls back to Google Vertex AI in an EU region, so a request from an EU account is still processed in the EU. Google is headquartered in the US, which is why it appears separately in our sub-processor list at trust.hedy.ai.

Which AI Processing Options Keep Data in the EU

Hedy lets you choose where the AI step runs under Settings → Speech & AI → AI Processing. Not every option respects your data region:

• Cloud AI with the EU region: processed in the EU, as described above.
• Local AI: processed on your own device, so nothing leaves it. Available on Apple Silicon Macs, Windows PCs with a capable GPU, iPhone 15 Pro and later, and M-series or A17 Pro iPads.
• Off: no AI analysis at all. Transcription keeps working.
• Apple Private Cloud Compute (iPhone and iPad on iOS 27, with Apple Intelligence): does not meet EU residency. Apple does not commit to a region for Private Cloud Compute, so your request may be handled outside the EU. Hedy warns you about this the first time you choose it.

If EU residency is a requirement for you or your organization, use Cloud AI with the EU region, or Local AI.

EU Data Residency for New Users and Existing Users

New users see a region choice during onboarding. If they select the EU, both their stored conversation data and their AI processing happen in Europe automatically.

Existing users who signed up before EU residency was available are not forced to change anything. Their stored data remains on US servers, which is where it has always been. However, existing users can opt into EU AI processing by updating their region preference under Settings → Privacy & System → Privacy Preferences. This routes future Cloud AI analysis to the EU. It does not migrate previously stored conversations to EU servers.

An account’s storage region can’t be changed. If an existing user needs full EU data residency for both storage and processing, the path is to export your data from the old account (Settings → Automation & Data → Backup & Transfer → Export All Data), create a new account with the EU region, and import the file there. Our support team moves your Pro or Lifetime license to the new account. Migrating your Hedy account to EU data storage walks through each step.

Part of a Broader GDPR Compliance Effort

EU data residency is one piece of our ongoing work to make Hedy a viable GDPR-compliant AI meeting coach for organizations with strict data governance requirements. For the full picture of Hedy’s GDPR compliance — DPA, SCCs, Transfer Impact Assessment, and Technical/Organizational Measures — see the dedicated post. Hedy has also completed an independent SOC 2 Type I examination and HIPAA assessment. Full GDPR compliance documentation is available through our Trust Center at trust.hedy.ai.

We provide the framework and infrastructure for GDPR-compliant use of Hedy. As outlined in GDPR, organizations using Hedy remain responsible for their own obligations as data controllers, including establishing their legal basis for processing and handling data subject rights. Our GDPR checklist for AI meeting tools walks through these controller responsibilities step by step. For a comparative evaluation of how Hedy stacks up against other meeting tools on GDPR, see the best GDPR-compliant AI meeting tool deep-dive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is my Hedy data stored if I choose the EU region?

All conversation data — transcripts, summaries, highlights, topics, chat history, custom contexts, and user preferences — is stored on servers physically located in the European Union. Cloud AI processing runs in the EU too, on Inceptron in Lund, Sweden, with Google Vertex AI in an EU region as the fallback. So your conversations are not only stored in Europe, they are analyzed there too.

Can I switch from US to EU data residency in Hedy?

Existing users can opt into EU AI processing under Settings → Privacy & System → Privacy Preferences, which routes future Cloud AI analysis to the EU. Stored conversations can’t be moved to the EU on the same account. For full EU residency for both storage and processing, export your data, create a new account with the EU region, import the file there, and ask support to transfer your Pro license.

Which company runs AI processing for EU accounts?

Inceptron, an AI inference provider based in Lund, Sweden. Our data processing agreement limits processing to the EU and EEA, and Inceptron does not store request content or train on it. If Inceptron is unavailable, Hedy falls back to Google Vertex AI in an EU region.

Does Apple Private Cloud Compute meet EU data residency?

No. Apple does not commit to a region for Private Cloud Compute, so choosing it on iPhone or iPad means your request may be processed outside the EU. For EU residency, use Cloud AI with the EU region, or Local AI.

What still runs through US infrastructure when I choose EU residency?

Account authentication, subscription billing, and error tracking remain US-based for all users, as do the email service providers that send auto-recap emails. If you don’t want session content to leave your region in any form, you can disable auto-recap emails in settings and review session content directly in the app, where it stays in your chosen region.

Does EU data residency on its own mean GDPR compliance?

No. EU residency is a strong supporting measure, but full compliance also requires an Article 28 DPA, EU Standard Contractual Clauses for any cross-border transfers, a Transfer Impact Assessment, documented Technical/Organizational Measures, sub-processor transparency, and your own controller-side obligations (lawful basis, transparency, DPIA where required, data subject rights).

What does on-device speech recognition mean for EU users?

Hedy’s speech recognition runs locally on your phone, tablet, or computer. Your audio is converted to text on hardware you control and never sent to a server for transcription. For EU users, this means the most sensitive part of the pipeline — the raw audio — never leaves your device, on top of EU residency for the data that does go to the cloud.

The Bottom Line

Your conversations are yours. Where they are stored should be your choice. With EU data residency, on-device speech recognition, and no bot joining your calls, Hedy gives European professionals a level of conversation privacy that most AI meeting tools simply cannot match.

Update to the latest version of Hedy and choose your region during onboarding. Already a user? Check Settings → Privacy & System → Privacy Preferences.