Granola Data Handling

Granola Data Handling

Overview

Manage data lifecycle for Granola meeting data: export, retention policies, GDPR/CCPA compliance, and long-term archival. Covers individual data rights, organizational policies, and automated archival workflows.

Prerequisites

• Granola admin access (for retention policies)
• Understanding of applicable regulations (GDPR, CCPA, SOC 2)
• Export destination prepared (cloud storage, Notion, local)

Instructions

Step 1 — Understand Data Types and Sensitivity

Key fact: Granola does not store raw audio after transcription. This is a significant privacy advantage — there is no audio file to leak, export, or subpoena.

Step 2 — Export Meeting Data

Individual note export:

1. Open the meeting note in Granola
2. Click the ... menu > Copy (copies as Markdown)
3. Paste into your target: Notion, Google Doc, text editor

Important limitation: Granola does not currently support bulk export, PDF export, or structured file download (JSON/CSV). The available options are:

• Copy individual notes as text/Markdown
• Share to Notion (one note at a time via native integration)
• Share to Slack (one note at a time)
• Enterprise API (read-only access to workspace notes)

Workaround for bulk access — local cache:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""Export Granola meetings from local cache to Markdown files."""
import json
from pathlib import Path
from datetime import datetime

CACHE_PATH = Path.home() / "Library/Application Support/Granola/cache-v3.json"
OUTPUT_DIR = Path.home() / "Desktop/granola-export"
OUTPUT_DIR.mkdir(exist_ok=True)

def export_from_cache():
    raw = json.loads(CACHE_PATH.read_text())
    state = json.loads(raw) if isinstance(raw, str) else raw
    data = state.get("state", state)
    docs = data.get("documents", {})

    exported = 0
    for doc_id, doc in docs.items():
        title = doc.get("title", "Untitled").replace("/", "-")
        created = doc.get("created_at", "unknown")[:10]
        content = doc.get("last_viewed_panel", {})

        # Extract text from ProseMirror content (simplified)
        text_parts = []
        if isinstance(content, dict):
            for node in content.get("content", []):
                if node.get("type") == "paragraph":
                    for child in node.get("content", []):
                        text_parts.append(child.get("text", ""))
                elif node.get("type") == "heading":
                    level = node.get("attrs", {}).get("level", 1)
                    prefix = "#" * level
                    for child in node.get("content", []):
                        text_parts.append(f"\n{prefix} {child.get('text', '')}\n")

        filename = f"{created}_{title[:60]}.md"
        filepath = OUTPUT_DIR / filename
        filepath.write_text(f"# {title}\n\nDate: {created}\n\n{''.join(text_parts)}")
        exported += 1

    print(f"Exported {exported} meetings to {OUTPUT_DIR}")

export_from_cache()

Enterprise API export:

# List all accessible notes (Enterprise plan required)
curl -s "https://api.granola.ai/v0/notes" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GRANOLA_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" | python3 -c "
import json, sys
notes = json.load(sys.stdin).get('notes', [])
for note in notes[:10]:
    print(f\"{note.get('id', 'N/A')}: {note.get('title', 'Untitled')} ({note.get('created_at', 'N/A')})\")
print(f'Total accessible notes: {len(notes)}')
"

Step 3 — Configure Retention Policies

Settings > Data Retention (Business/Enterprise):

Per-workspace overrides (Enterprise):

• HR workspace: 90-day notes, 30-day transcripts
• Executive workspace: Custom (legal hold capable)
• Sales workspace: 1-year notes, 90-day transcripts
• Engineering workspace: 2-year notes, 90-day transcripts

Step 4 — GDPR Compliance

Required controls:

Subject Access Request (SAR) handling:

## SAR Response Procedure

1. Receive SAR from data subject (30-day response deadline)
2. Verify identity of the requester
3. Search Granola for all notes containing the requester
   - People view: search by name/email
   - Enterprise API: query notes by attendee email
4. Export relevant notes (copy as text)
5. Redact third-party PII from the export
6. Deliver export to requester within 30 days
7. Document the SAR and response in compliance log

Data Processing Agreement:

• Request DPA from Granola at security@granola.ai or via Settings
• Required for any organization processing EU personal data
• DPA covers Granola as a Data Processor

Step 5 — CCPA Compliance

For California consumer data:

• Disclosure: Update your privacy policy to mention Granola as a meeting recording tool
• Opt-out: Provide mechanism for meeting participants to opt out of recording
• Deletion: Honor deletion requests by removing notes containing the individual

Step 6 — Archival Workflow

For long-term retention beyond Granola:

# Monthly archival via Zapier
Trigger: Schedule by Zapier — 1st of month

Step 1 — Granola: List notes from past month
  (via Enterprise API or folder trigger accumulation)

Step 2 — Google Drive: Create folder
  Name: "Meeting Archives / YYYY-MM"

Step 3 — Google Drive: Upload files
  Content: Note markdown for each meeting

Step 4 — Slack: Notify admin
  Message: "Monthly meeting archive created: X notes archived"

Alternative: local cache backup

# Backup local cache monthly
BACKUP_DIR="$HOME/backups/granola"
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
cp "$HOME/Library/Application Support/Granola/cache-v3.json" \
   "$BACKUP_DIR/cache-v3-$(date +%Y%m%d).json"
echo "Granola cache backed up"

Output

• Data export procedures documented and tested
• Retention policies configured per workspace and data type
• GDPR/CCPA compliance controls implemented
• SAR handling procedure established
• Archival workflow automated (monthly)

Error Handling

Resources

• Privacy & Data FAQs
• Data Processing Addendum
• Security Standards
• Granola Privacy Policy

Next Steps

Proceed to granola-enterprise-rbac for role-based access control configuration.