Just a question????

Lustology

New member
Aug 14, 2005
1,322
1
0
Is it illegal to record someone's phone call without them knowing?????
 
I seem to remember that you just need the permission of one of the people in the conversation to record it. I could be wrong though.
 
I know it is...

...in the U.S. Not sure here.

When you call places that you are being recorded as a part of BAU (like a police station), you get a recurring beep in the background to alert you to this fact.
 
Lustology said:
Is it illegal to record someone's phone call without them knowing?????
Different places have different laws, and there's a difference between criminal and other types of offences. In Canada, I believe some 'illegal' recordings are privacy law offences, some are criminal, and some of that depends on what use or publication is made of the recording. It might be a legal tape, but illegal for you to let just anybody hear it. Police who do not obtain a judge's order to record commit a serious offence, and likewise if they use the recording for any purpose the judge didn't authorize as an example. And every US state has it's own criminal laws, while we have one Criminal Code, but at least eleven privacy situations. A proper answer would require more info from you.

As a for instance, you might follow current discussions on the legality or morality of a Conservative recording a conference call for members of another party. They'd be in the Politics Forum.

This is a Googlable topic, and Wikipedia's summary of the Canadian situation is that a person who is properly part of a telephone conversation commits no offence by recording it without the knowledge of the other parties.
 
If it isn't, it should be.
 
I do not think it is, many times if one is calling about customer service, they start off with the message, "this call my be recorded for customer service training, blah, blah, blah.."
 
Yes it is you have to ask permission or tell them you will be recording the conversation. The same as when you call up rogers they notify you immediatly that the call will be recorded for quality purposes etc...
 
oldjones said:
Different places have different laws, and there's a difference between criminal and other types of offences. In Canada, I believe some 'illegal' recordings are privacy law offences, some are criminal, and some of that depends on what use r publication is made of the recording. Police who do not obtain a judge's order to record commit a serious offence, and likewise if they use the recording for any purpose the judge didn't authorize as an example. A proper answer would require more info from you.

As a for instance, you might follow current discussions on the legality or morality of a Conservative recording a conference call for members of another party. They'd be in the Politics Forum.

This is a Googlable topic, and Wikipedia's summary of the Canadian situation is that a person who is properly part of a telephone conversation commits no offence by recording it without the knowledge of the other parties.
Ditto to what Old Jones writes. Before even considering something like this you need to find out what the law is where you are and where you are calling to.
 
In Canada they have "one part consent". If you want to record a call you are making....perfectly legal. You, who are recording the call, have given the consent to do so.
Other person you are recording does not need to be asked or told.

Recording of calls is on a know to need basis......and those being recorded....donot need to know.
 
General rule- Its perfectly fine as long you're the only one hearing the recorded call. You're not allowed to let a 3rd party listen to the recorded call w/o consent of the person you were talking to.

Not sure if this would carry a lot of weight in court as evidence though...i forget the rules.
 
One of Stephen Harper's "underlings" recorded Jack Layton's conference call with members of the NDP caucus. Tapes were released to the media. NDP lawyers are looking for possible criminal charges, but the Conservatives have said it was legal since they were mistakenly "invited" to join the conference call.
 
MLAM said:
...in the U.S. Not sure here.

When you call places that you are being recorded as a part of BAU (like a police station), you get a recurring beep in the background to alert you to this fact.
That depends on what State you're in, some its legal others its a felony

From wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws
Two party consent states

Twelve states currently require that BOTH or ALL parties consent to the recording. These states are:

* California
* Connecticut
* Florida
* Illinois
* Maryland
* Massachusetts
* Michigan
* Montana
* Nevada
* New Hampshire
* Pennsylvania
* Washington

All other states, and the District of Columbia, besides those listed above require only one party consent just like federal law. However there are certain exceptions to these rules. See full rules here. Also note that according to the California court case Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc. (July 13,2006) if you call from a one party consent state into California, then the two party consent law outweighs the one party consent law. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S124739.PDF here].
 
you can certainly record any phone calls you like but whether you can use what you record as "evidence" is another matter
 
It is legal in Canada as long as one party knows that it is being recorded. It is not legal to intercept a conversation between two people who do not know that they are being recorded.

I am not sure about the status of a conference call. It might be deemed to be a public meeting. It depends how the person accesssed it. Maybe someone gave him/her permission.
 
I recorded a conversation with a piece of shit real estate agent (aren't they all) I knew was trying to screw me, I ended up catching him in alot of lies and screwing him for 1300$, 1% of his commission.

I record many conversations now, you can buy a device cheap.