a legal question regarding the recording of phone calls...

If I call a company, and they start out with a message saying that this phone call "may be recorded...", if I want to record the call on my end, do I also have to advise the person who comes on the line at their end, or does that one recorded message on their part serve as proper notification to both parties that it might be being recorded...?

...the employee consents to being recorded by his/her employer - they haven't given consent to being recorded by you.

they are being recorded, not who does the recording. So, if a company notifies you they are recording the same conversation, then no...there would be no duty on your part to tell them you are, likewise recording it although you have nothing to gain by concealing the point.


That is why if someone leaves a threat on your answering machine, it CAN BE admissible...they are OBVIOUSLY aware they are being recorded when leaving a message.

Editorial rights.

Remembering Linda Tripp, I think this may be a State issue. Remember that she was supposed to be in soooo much trouble because the State she recorded Monica in has a law against it?

OTOH, when I call some company and they inform me that my call may be recorded for "quality control," I always say something like: I'm really sorry that you work for a company that is so unprofessional that they are compelled to intimidate their workers.... hehehe

Two things worked in Tripps favor.

The first was that the States Attorney in the specific jurisdiction was a Republican.

The States Attorney ruled that the Federal immunity granted to Tripp applied to state prosecution as well. Which confused the hell out of me since the Feds have no authority over the enforcement of state laws.

Aren't we lucky to have Republican judges who are NOT "activists?"

Just like the SCOTUS deciding Florida voting laws!!!

In Oregon, one party to the conversation has to consent to its being recorded. So if you record your own conversation, it's okay. But other states require that both parties be notified that the conversation be recorded, and that's what got Linda Tripp in trouble, as I recall. In Maryland, where she initiated her call to her buddy Monica Lewinsky, both parties have to consent.

"Consent" can be a tricky proposition. If the message tells you the call "may" be recorded, do you consent to its being recorded if you continue with the call? What if the call is not discretionary, but mandatory (like a 9-1-1 call, or a call to your bank that your credit card has been stolen)?