Can a Private Investigator Record a One-Party Conversation in Pennsylvania?

Private investigators in Pennsylvania aren't authorized to secretly record conversations.

Only law enforcement officers with warrants are legally authorized to mechanically record a telephone conversation without the knowledge and consent of both---or all---parties. Private investigators in Pennsylvania have no standing as law enforcement officers.

Two-Party or Lose Your License

In 1987, the Pennsylvania Superior Court, in Commonwealth v. Jung, decided it is unlawful to intercept telephone calls without "two-party" consent. Private investigators are licensed by the state and are subject to forfeiture of that license if they record any telephone conversation without informing the other party they are being recorded.

Peculiar Exception

Pennsylvania law does not, however, require two-way consent to record if what is recorded is in a public place. If you are standing in line in a coffee shop, for example, and someone next to you is talking on the telephone, that conversation can legally be recorded without two-party consent.

Third-Party Recordings

Private investigators may solicit access to recorded conversations, for example, by employers who monitor employee calls for quality control; but no one is under any legal obligation in Pennsylvania to share these recorded conversations with private investigators.

References

• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: Pennsylvania Taping Laws
• Call Corder: United States Telephone Recording Laws
• Citizen's Media Law Project: Pennsylvania Recording Law

Resources

• Association of American Physicians and Surgeons: Consent Requirements by State