What the law requires if an AI answers your phone
Updated on 27 August 2026
If an AI assistant answers your business's phone in Spain, the law asks for three concrete things: that the person knows they're talking to an AI (Article 50 of the EU AI Act, applicable since 2 August 2026), that call data is processed under GDPR (with a data-processing agreement with your provider), and that recordings, if any, are announced and under your control. None of this is optional and none of it is hard if the provider is built right.
1. Saying it's an AI (EU AI Act, Art. 50)
Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 requires AI systems that interact with people to identify themselves as such, unless it's obvious. On a phone call it isn't obvious, so the assistant must introduce itself as what it is when it picks up. The transparency obligations of Article 50 apply since 2 August 2026.
In practice: 'You're speaking with the assistant of [your business]' at the start of the call. Done well, it doesn't scare anyone: what scares people is finding out mid-conversation.
2. The call's data (GDPR)
A call attended by AI processes personal data: name, phone, reason. That demands the same as any processing: a legal basis (serving what the client is asking for), clear information, and a data-processing agreement with the agent's provider. That agreement is the paper that says what the provider does with YOUR clients' data, where it keeps it and that it isn't theirs.
Where it's stored matters: inside Europe GDPR applies without gymnastics; outside, you need additional safeguards. Always ask for the location of data and recordings, in writing.
3. Recordings and numbering
If calls are recorded, it must be announced at the start, and you must be able to turn recordings on, off, and delete them: it's your clients' data and the control is yours.
And a Spanish detail almost nobody mentions: if your business makes outbound commercial calls, Order TDF/149/2025 forbids making them from mobile numbering; they're made from an identifiable landline. A serious provider solves this by default.
This is not legal advice
It's the honest map of what applies to a business using a voice agent, written so you can decide calmly. For your specific case (regulated sector, health data, minors) check with your legal counsel.
Clear questions
Is it legal for an AI to answer my business's phone?
Yes. What EU law demands is transparency (that it identifies itself as AI) and GDPR compliance in processing the call's data. With those met, it's a service channel like any other.
Do I need consent for the AI to attend calls?
To attend the call the client themselves makes, no: the basis is serving what they ask. To record, you must announce it at the start. To use their data for something else (marketing), you do need separate consent.
How does Sole Hand's agent comply?
It identifies itself as an assistant when it picks up, data stays in Europe, we sign a data-processing agreement and you rule over the recordings. It's built that way by default, not as an extra.
Compliance, by default
Sole Hand's agent is born compliant: assistant identification, data in Europe and a data-processing agreement. It comes inside the community's member fee, €59/month plus VAT, with the rest of the tools.
See the fees