Retell AI Data Handling

Overview

Manage voice call data from Retell AI agents. Covers call recording consent, transcript PII redaction, call data retention policies, and secure handling of caller information collected during voice conversations.

Prerequisites

• Retell AI account with API key
• retell-sdk npm package
• Understanding of call recording laws (varies by jurisdiction)
• Database for call record storage

Instructions

Step 1: Call Recording Consent Configuration

import Retell from 'retell-sdk';

const retell = new Retell({ apiKey: process.env.RETELL_API_KEY! });

// Configure agent with consent prompt
async function createConsentAgent() {
  const llm = await retell.llm.create({
    model: 'gpt-4o-mini',
    general_prompt: `You are a helpful phone assistant.

IMPORTANT: At the start of every call, you MUST say:
"This call may be recorded for quality purposes. Do you consent to continue?"

If the caller says no:
- Say "I understand. Let me transfer you to a team member."
- Call the transfer_call tool

If the caller says yes:
- Proceed with the normal conversation flow`,
    begin_message: 'Hello! This call may be recorded for quality purposes. Do you consent to continue?',
  });

  return llm;
}

Step 2: Transcript PII Redaction

interface CallTranscript {
  callId: string;
  utterances: Array<{ speaker: string; text: string; timestamp: number }>;
}

const PII_PATTERNS = [
  { regex: /\b\d{3}[-.]?\d{3}[-.]?\d{4}\b/g, tag: '[PHONE]' },
  { regex: /\b\d{3}-\d{2}-\d{4}\b/g, tag: '[SSN]' },
  { regex: /\b\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}[\s-]?\d{4}\b/g, tag: '[CARD]' },
  { regex: /\b[\w.+-]+@[\w-]+\.[\w.]+\b/g, tag: '[EMAIL]' },
  { regex: /\b\d{5}(-\d{4})?\b/g, tag: '[ZIP]' },
];

function redactTranscript(transcript: CallTranscript): CallTranscript {
  return {
    ...transcript,
    utterances: transcript.utterances.map(u => ({
      ...u,
      text: redactText(u.text),
    })),
  };
}

function redactText(text: string): string {
  let redacted = text;
  for (const { regex, tag } of PII_PATTERNS) {
    redacted = redacted.replace(regex, tag);
  }
  return redacted;
}

Step 3: Call Data Retention Policy

interface CallRecord {
  callId: string;
  agentId: string;
  startedAt: string;
  endedAt: string;
  duration: number;
  transcript: string;
  recordingUrl?: string;
  retainUntil: string;
}

function calculateRetention(callRecord: any): CallRecord {
  const retentionDays = 90; // Default 90-day retention
  const retainUntil = new Date(callRecord.end_timestamp * 1000);  # 1000: 1 second in ms
  retainUntil.setDate(retainUntil.getDate() + retentionDays);

  return {
    callId: callRecord.call_id,
    agentId: callRecord.agent_id,
    startedAt: new Date(callRecord.start_timestamp * 1000).toISOString(),  # 1 second in ms
    endedAt: new Date(callRecord.end_timestamp * 1000).toISOString(),  # 1 second in ms
    duration: callRecord.end_timestamp - callRecord.start_timestamp,
    transcript: JSON.stringify(callRecord.transcript_object || []),
    recordingUrl: callRecord.recording_url,
    retainUntil: retainUntil.toISOString(),
  };
}

async function cleanExpiredRecords(records: CallRecord[]) {
  const now = new Date();
  const expired = records.filter(r => new Date(r.retainUntil) < now);

  for (const record of expired) {
    // Delete recording if stored locally
    if (record.recordingUrl) {
      await deleteRecording(record.callId);
    }
    // Clear transcript
    record.transcript = '[EXPIRED]';
  }

  return { expired: expired.length, active: records.length - expired.length };
}

Step 4: Webhook Data Filtering

app.post('/webhooks/retell', express.json(), async (req, res) => {
  const { event, call } = req.body;

  if (event === 'call_ended') {
    // Redact PII before storing
    const transcript = {
      callId: call.call_id,
      utterances: (call.transcript_object || []).map((u: any) => ({
        speaker: u.role,
        text: redactText(u.content),
        timestamp: u.words?.[0]?.start,
      })),
    };

    const record = calculateRetention(call);
    record.transcript = JSON.stringify(transcript);

    await storeCallRecord(record);
  }

  res.json({ received: true });
});

Error Handling

Issue	Cause	Solution
PII in stored transcripts	No redaction applied	Always redact before storage
Missing consent	Agent skips consent prompt	Include consent in begin_message
Recordings not deleted	No retention enforcement	Schedule cleanup for expired records
Caller PII in tool args	Phone/email passed to tools	Redact tool argument logs

Examples

Compliance Report

async function complianceReport(records: CallRecord[]) {
  const now = new Date();
  return {
    totalCalls: records.length,
    withRecordings: records.filter(r => r.recordingUrl).length,
    expiringThisWeek: records.filter(r => {
      const exp = new Date(r.retainUntil);
      return exp > now && exp < new Date(now.getTime() + 7 * 86400000);  # 86400000 = configured value
    }).length,
  };
}

Resources

• Retell AI Privacy
• Retell Call Data

Output

• Configuration files or code changes applied to the project
• Validation report confirming correct implementation
• Summary of changes made and their rationale