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Recording phone conversations... legal? Depends...

 
 
Reply Fri 8 Dec, 2006 12:38 pm
What's up people!

I'm doing a quickie research project and one question is on the legality of recording a phone conversation.

Scenario:
You are in Georgia.
The other party is in California.
Can you record the phone conversation without the other party knowing?


I know that it is legal to record a phone conversation in New York so long as one party gives consent (or is doing the recording him/herself), but I'm not so sure on the hypo I posed.

Might anyone know about this, or have any worthwile search tips (websites, etc)?

By the way:
I know Georgia is a one party state, and California is a two party state, so I guess this is a conflicts of law question... Question
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contrex
 
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Reply Fri 8 Dec, 2006 12:53 pm
IANAL, but I guess as a call from CA to GA crosses state lines, the federal law applies.

The U.S. federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call. A majority of the states and territories have adopted wiretapping statutes based on the federal law, although most have also extended the law to cover in-person conversations. 38 states and the D.C. permit recording telephone conversations to which they are a party without informing the other parties that they are doing so.

While the U.S. federal law only requires one-party consent, many states have accepted different laws. In some states all parties must give their consent or at least be notified that the call is about to be recorded (with necessary opt-out option: if you don't like them to record the call, you can ask them to stop recording). There also was a case law decision from many years ago (the 1950's) that went to the Supreme Court and affirmed that the federal law does not supersede state authority/statutes unless the call or the tap crosses state lines - that is why each state went ahead and established their own guideline/statute.

There's a link here

http://www.callcorder.com/phone-recording-law-america.htm

States Requiring One Party Notification

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Colorado
District Of Columbia
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky Louisiana
Maine
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oklahoma Oregon
Ohio
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming


States Requiring Two Party Notification
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Massachusetts
Maryland
Michigan
Montana
New Hampshire
Pennsylvania
Washington
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JustanObserver
 
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Reply Fri 8 Dec, 2006 01:14 pm
contrex wrote:
There also was a case law decision from many years ago (the 1950's) that went to the Supreme Court and affirmed that the federal law does not supersede state authority/statutes unless the call or the tap crosses state lines - that is why each state went ahead and established their own guideline/statute.


Tremendously helpful, thank you!
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