{
  "id": "communication/call-recording-one-party-consent-not-universal",
  "signature": "AI tells someone in the US it's legal to record a phone call or conversation as long as they are a participant, without checking state law",
  "signature_zh": "",
  "regex": "(record.*phone call.*legal.*(us|united states)|one.party consent.*record|legal to record.*conversation)",
  "domain": "communication",
  "category": "legal_risk",
  "subcategory": null,
  "root_cause": "Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2511) sets a one-party consent floor for recording calls and conversations, but it does not preempt stricter state law. About 11 states - including California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania - require all-party consent for at least some conversations, with several more requiring it for either phone calls or in-person conversations specifically. Recording without every participant's consent in an all-party-consent state can be a crime, and courts disagree on whether the recorder's state or the other party's state governs an interstate call, so the safer assumption is the stricter of the two applies.",
  "root_cause_type": "generic",
  "root_cause_zh": "",
  "versions": [
    {
      "version": "any",
      "introduced": null,
      "deprecated": null,
      "removed": null,
      "behavior_change": null,
      "status": "active"
    }
  ],
  "os_specific": {},
  "dead_ends": [
    {
      "action": "Tell someone in the US that recording a phone call or in-person conversation is legal as long as they are a party to it, without asking which state they or the other party are in",
      "why_fails": "Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2511) sets only a one-party consent floor - it does not preempt stricter state law. About 11 states require all-party consent for at least phone calls, and recording without every participant's consent there can be a criminal offense; California Penal Code § 632, for example, punishes it with up to a year in jail plus a fine.",
      "fail_rate": 0.7,
      "condition": "Recording without checking the applicable state's law",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511",
        "https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=632",
        "https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Assume that only the recorder's own state law matters when recording an interstate call",
      "why_fails": "Courts disagree on whether the recorder's state or the other party's state governs; a recorder in a one-party-consent state can still face liability under the stricter all-party-consent law of the state where the other party is located.",
      "fail_rate": 0.5,
      "condition": "Interstate call between a one-party-consent and an all-party-consent state",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds": [
    {
      "action": "Before recording, identify the state(s) involved and check whether either is an all-party-consent jurisdiction; when in doubt or the call crosses state lines, treat it as governed by the stricter rule and get every participant's explicit consent before recording",
      "success_rate": 0.9,
      "how": "",
      "condition": "Any call or conversation recording in the US",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/"
      ]
    },
    {
      "action": "Get affirmative verbal or written consent from every participant, or clearly announce the recording and let them decline, before or at the start of the call",
      "success_rate": 0.85,
      "how": "",
      "condition": "All-party-consent jurisdiction, or jurisdiction unknown",
      "sources": [
        "https://www.rcfp.org/introduction-to-reporters-recording-guide/"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "workarounds_zh": [],
  "transition_graph": {
    "leads_to": [],
    "preceded_by": [],
    "frequently_confused_with": []
  },
  "official_doc_url": null,
  "official_doc_section": null,
  "error_code": null,
  "verification_tier": "ai_generated",
  "confidence": 0.75,
  "fix_success_rate": 0.85,
  "resolvable": "true",
  "first_seen": "2026-09-14",
  "last_confirmed": "2026-09-14",
  "last_updated": "2026-09-14",
  "evidence_count": 3,
  "tags": [],
  "locale": "en",
  "aliases": [
    "communication/call-recording-one-party-consent-not-universal/us"
  ]
}