Telephone Recording Laws

Here's a quick guide to ensure you're keeping with the law when you record a telephone call---whether it's for personal or business reasons.

Significance

If you need to use a phone recording in court for any reason, it's must be a legal recording. Also, if you're caught violating the laws, every state has criminal charges in place for unlawful phone recording.

Types

There are two types of laws regarding the recording of a phone conversation: one-party consent and two-party consent. One-party consent is when only one person in the phone conversation needs to consent to the recording (and this person can be the recorder). Two-party consent is when both parties on the phone must consent to the recording for it to be legal.

To Obtain Consent

Just ask! You need written or verbal consent before recording. For verbal consent, get his response in the recording, then thank him for letting you record the conversation; that way you've got him consenting twice.

Geography

Whether the law you're dealing requires one-party or two-party consent depends on the state you're in.

Two-party consent states:
California
Connecticut 
Delaware
Florida
Illinois
Massachusetts
Maryland
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Washington

All other states have one-party consent laws.

Interstate Business

If you're making/receiving a phone call to/from another state that has different consent laws than the one you're in, all you need to know is where your feet are. Apply the law for whichever state you are in. It doesn't matter whether you are sending or receiving the call.

References

• Federal Communications Commission
• Call-Corder
• Sandy Davidson, University of Missouri-Columbia journalism law professor, Columbia, Mo.

Resources

• The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
• Association of American Physicians and Surgeons