These days almost everyone has at least once been in a situation where they have wanted to travel back in time and record a particular instance especially a conversation they may have had with anyone over the phone or on FaceTime call or something. Fetching the tools necessary to Record Phone Calls can be technical however with advancements in IT every day, call recording apps are swimming in the sea of apps.
Downloading any tool to Record Phone Calls is as simple as it can get for any other app that you wish to use but the real question here is that is it ethical or even legal to Record Phone Calls in the first place whether it is on Android or iPhone. Now this question as simple as it may seem, doesn’t have a simple answer because it depends on multiple contributing factors.
Is it legal for the US Residents to Record Phone Calls?
Let’s talk about the legal terms to Record Phone Calls in the United States where this mostly depends on how the laws of the state and federal laws meet at a particular point. Federal law is the one which is applicable on all states plus territories unless the law of the state bypasses it. The state law tells that it is legal to Record Phone Calls when at least one party agrees to it. What this essentially implies is that it is okay to record phone calls and conversation but when even one person in a conversation doesn’t give the consent for it, you cannot proceed forward with the recording.
There are 38 states which would be 39 if we count Washington who agree with this law that allows you to record phone calls when there is a one party consent for it. The rest of the 11 states however do need for all the parties to give their consent before you can proceed with recording phone calls. These 11 states including the following:
- California
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- Pennsylvania
- Washington
When does recording phone calls become illegal?
We must understand that recording phone calls under any situation is illegal when you haven’t obtained consent from the parties at the other end of the conversation or when you are using hidden bugs or any recording hardware. This law even hold true in the state where only one party’s consent is needed.
So all in all you cannot record phone calls unless you are someone working for the NSA or any other government organization. Now this may seem like a thing with a politically driven agenda but it is the truth for US citizens where public surveillance is part of the normal life even when the court is fighting over how it’s a breach of privacy but any significant change is still miles away.
What are the laws in other countries to Record Phone Calls?
The law to Record Phone Calls varies from country to country and you kind of have to search for this one by yourself according to the country you are a resident of. Countries like Australia have totally banned recording of calls while other countries like Canada allows then if you have informed the party on the other side. Now if there is a particular country you wish to know about and their laws regarding phone call recording then you can post up your request in the comments section below and we will have an in detail article ready for you to read.
Hina Akram 
Clarice