This call will be recorded..(for both of us)
Why Standardised Conversation Records Will Become the Trust Layer of the AI Economy
We have all heard the familiar phrase:
“This call may be recorded for training, security and fraud prevention.”
It has become background noise — part of the invisible surveillance infrastructure of modern life. Most of us barely notice it anymore. We have learned, rationally or otherwise, that we cannot opt out.
Yet despite being recorded, these conversations rarely work for us.
When we contact an organisation for the second or third time, we are often asked to repeat the same information. Previous explanations are “not available.” Commitments made in earlier calls are difficult to reference. The record exists — but only on one side of the relationship.
That asymmetry is no longer sustainable.
Conversations Are the Missing Layer of Digital Trust
Much of the most important information in our relationships with organisations does not exist in forms, databases, or dashboards. It exists in conversations.
It is where intent is expressed.
Where exceptions are negotiated.
Where misunderstandings are resolved.
Where advice is given.
Where consent is clarified.
Where responsibility is assigned.
Conversation data captures the “why” behind decisions — not just the “what.”
Yet historically, this data has been fragmented, inaccessible, and controlled almost entirely by institutions.
That is beginning to change.
Enter vCon: A Standard for Conversation Records
A new technical standard, known as vCon (Virtual Conversation), is being developed within the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
vCon defines a structured, privacy-aware format for capturing, storing, exchanging, and analysing conversational data.
Each vCon record contains four core elements:
Participants – who was involved, and in what role
Recordings – voice, video, messaging, email, and other media
Analyses – transcripts, sentiment, intent, summaries, and predictions, with full traceability
Attachments – metadata, timestamps, provenance, and authenticity indicators
Together, these elements form a verifiable, auditable, machine-readable record of an interaction.
In simple terms: vCon turns conversations into structured digital assets.
From Organisational Records to Shared Records
The true significance of vCon is not technical. It is relational.
For the first time, conversation records can become symmetrical.
Instead of being held exclusively by organisations, individuals can retain verified, portable copies of their own interactions — with transcripts, context, and provenance.
This creates what has been missing from digital relationships:
Shared truth.
Both sides can reference the same record.
Both sides can verify what happened.
Both sides can reuse the data.
This is not just better record-keeping.
It is a rebalancing of power.
A Real-World Example: Life Admin, Reimagined
Recently, I had three separate conversations with my car insurer while trying to add my 17-year-old son to our car policy.
Each interaction required me to repeat information.
Each involved re-validation.
Each took around 30 minutes.
None produced a usable record for me.
The organisation had the data. I did not.
With vCon-enabled interactions, this could have been radically different:
One verified conversation
A structured transcript
Machine-readable policy terms
A reusable record
A shareable proof of agreement
Not only would my time have been saved.
My understanding and protection would have improved.
Multiply that across millions of similar life events, and the efficiency gains are obvious.
The Coming Challenge: Trusting AI Agents
We are now entering an era of AI-powered personal and organisational agents.
These systems will negotiate, research, book, compare, switch, and transact on our behalf — largely through conversational interfaces.
The promise is enormous.
So is the risk.
AI systems hallucinate.
They misinterpret instructions.
They act probabilistically
They operate at scale.
Without strong accountability mechanisms, agentic commerce will struggle to gain trust.
Today, very few people are willing to give AI systems unrestricted purchasing authority. The hesitation is not about performance. It is about liability and visibility.
We do not trust systems we cannot audit.
The Bank Statement for Data Actions
For centuries, financial trust has depended on one simple instrument: the bank statement.
We rarely read it closely.
But we need to know it exists.
It allows us to reconstruct events, resolve disputes, and understand anomalies.
The digital economy now needs the same thing for data and AI.
We need:
A record of what agents did
What data they used
Who authorised actions
What outcomes occurred
Under what terms
In other words: a bank statement for digital actions.
vCon provides the structured substrate required to create this.
When combined with identity, consent, and policy layers, it becomes the foundation of accountable automation.
Regulatory Alignment: Why This Is Becoming Inevitable
This shift is not occurring in a vacuum.
Regulators are increasingly demanding:
Explainable AI
Auditable decision-making
Provable consent
Transparent data usage
Traceable accountability
From financial services to healthcare, from consumer protection to platform governance, the direction is clear.
Systems that cannot produce high-quality interaction records will struggle to comply.
vCon-enabled architectures align naturally with this regulatory trajectory.
Why Organisations Will Embrace This
Symmetric conversation records are not a concession. They are an advantage.
For organisations, they enable:
Reduced call handling times
Lower dispute resolution costs
Better compliance evidence
Higher-quality AI training data
Improved fraud prevention
Stronger customer trust
Structured conversations are more valuable than unstructured recordings.
They become assets, not liabilities.
The Role of DataPal
vCon defines the format.
It does not define governance, orchestration, or value creation.
That is where DataPal operates.
DataPal enables individuals and organisations to:
Store and manage vCon records
Apply usage policies through MyTerms
Anchor identity through MyKey
Control access and reuse
Enable AI-assisted learning and action
Maintain full auditability
In effect, DataPal turns conversation records into governed, reusable, personal data assets.
From CRM to My Relationship Management or MyRM
Customer Relationship Management systems were built for organisations.
vCon enables something new:
My Relationship Management or MyRM.
A standardised, portable, privacy-preserving record of how we interact with institutions — managed from the individual side.
This is not “better CRM.”
It is a complementary layer that restores balance.
An interoperability layer between personal data systems and enterprise platforms.
From Infrastructure to Ecosystem
We are already prototyping vCon-enabled systems in regulated, multi-party environments, including the travel sector.
These environments combine:
Identity verification
High-value transactions
Regulatory oversight
Multiple intermediaries
High fraud risk
They are ideal proving grounds for accountable conversational systems.
What emerges from this work is clear:
Conversation records are becoming core infrastructure.
The Next Trust Layer of the Digital Economy
The internet standardised documents, payments, identity, and messaging.
It never standardised conversations.
vCon may become that missing layer.
When conversations become portable, auditable, and governed:
Agentic commerce becomes scalable
Regulated advice becomes provable
Disputes become factual
Trust becomes infrastructural
People may never hear the term “vCon.”
But they will feel the difference.
Their digital relationships will finally work for them — not just for the systems on the other side.