Recording phone and internet calls: consent rules, built-in recorders and what to tell the other side

Privacy · Published 2026-10-25

Illustration of a phone handset beside a red recording dot and a sound wave, on a warm cream background — A red dot is easy to press. Whether you may press it depends on where you and the other person are.

Phones now record calls with a tap, and a VoIP call is just data that software can save. The technology is simple; the law is not. Whether you may record depends on where each person on the call is, who is recording, and what the recording is for.

This guide explains general rules and points to the texts. It is not legal advice; for anything that may end up in court or at work, check with a lawyer or your regulator.

The two families of rules

Most legal systems fall into one of two approaches:

One-party consent: you may record a conversation you take part in without telling the others, as long as you do not do it to commit a crime or a wrong.
All-party consent: everyone on the call must agree before it is recorded, or at least be clearly told.

Data protection law adds a third layer. Even where recording is allowed, a recording of someone's voice is personal data, and what you do with it next (keep it, share it, publish it) can fall under privacy rules.

United States: federal one-party, some states all-party

Federal law, the Wiretap Act, makes it lawful for a private person to intercept a call "where such person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent", unless the recording is made for a criminal or tortious purpose (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)). That is the one-party baseline.

States can be stricter, and several are. California is the best-known example: Penal Code section 632 makes it an offence to record a confidential communication "without the consent of all parties", with fines and possible jail time, and victims can also sue. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press publishes a state-by-state recording guide that sets out each state's rule, including other all-party states such as Florida, Pennsylvania and Washington.

Calls that cross state lines are where people get caught out. In Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006), the California Supreme Court applied California's all-party rule to a Georgia firm that recorded calls with clients in California. The safe reading is simple: if anyone on the call may be in an all-party state, act as if the strictest rule applies.

Europe: privacy first

There is no single European recording law, but the general direction is stricter than in the US.

Criminal law in some countries. In Germany, section 201 of the Criminal Code punishes anyone who, without authorisation, records "the non-publicly spoken word of another" on a recording medium, with up to three years' imprisonment or a fine (§ 201 StGB). Secretly recording a private phone call there is therefore not a grey area. Other countries have their own rules, and some are closer to one-party consent; check the law where you and the other person are.
Data protection for everyone else. The GDPR does not apply to processing "by a natural person in the course of a purely personal or household activity" (Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Article 2(2)(c)). A note-to-self recording of a call with your plumber may fall under that exemption. Posting it online, or recording as a business, does not: a company recording calls needs a lawful basis under Article 6 and must tell callers, which is why you hear "this call may be recorded" on customer lines.

How built-in recorders behave

Phone makers have built the consent question into their software, and both major platforms announce the recording to everyone on the call.

iPhone

Apple added call recording in iOS 18. According to Apple's own guidance, when recording starts "both participants receive an audio notice that the call is being recorded", the notice replays periodically, and the other person cannot block it but can end the call. Recordings are saved to a Call Recordings folder in the Notes app of the person who started them. The feature is available only in select regions and languages, and Apple itself tells users to make sure the other participant gives explicit consent first (Apple Personal Safety User Guide).

Android (Google Phone app)

Google's Phone app plays a disclosure to both parties when recording starts and another when it stops, and shows an indicator while recording. Recordings stay on the device and are not backed up off it. The feature needs a supported device and Android version, is not offered in every country, and cannot record a call on hold or a conference call (Phone app Help).

Third-party apps and VoIP

Apps that promise silent recording exist, and with an internet call (see how VoIP works) the audio is just a stream that software on your device can capture. That a tool can record without a beep does not make a secret recording lawful. If you are in an all-party jurisdiction, the announcement is a protection for you, not an obstacle.

Recording and encryption are separate questions

End-to-end encryption, which we cover in what calling apps actually encrypt, stops the provider and anyone on the network from listening in. It does nothing against the person you are talking to: they hear the audio in clear on their device and can record it, with a built-in feature, a screen recorder or a second phone held to the speaker. If a conversation must not exist in recorded form, encryption is not the answer; choosing what you say is.

At work and with businesses

Customer lines: a business that records you should say so at the start and explain why in its privacy notice. Under the GDPR you can ask for a copy of a recording that contains your personal data.
Regulated sectors: some firms, such as investment firms in the EU, are required to record calls relating to client orders and transactions (MiFID II, Directive 2014/65/EU, Article 16(7)); those rules come with their own retention and disclosure duties.
Employees: recording colleagues or meetings can breach company policy or employment law even where the general law would allow it. Check before you press record.

A routine that keeps you on the safe side

Say it out loud first: "Do you mind if I record this so I don't have to take notes?" Then start recording and ask again, so the consent is on the recording.
If they say no, don't record. Take notes and send a short email summary afterwards; it often does the job better.
Assume the strictest rule when the other person is in another state or country.
Keep it private: store recordings on your device or in an encrypted backup, and delete them when you no longer need them. Google's app, for example, offers automatic deletion after a set period.
Do not publish a recording of a private call without legal advice, even if the recording itself was lawful.

Useful cases

Recording is often legitimate and useful: keeping an exact record of what an operator promised during a contract call, capturing a doctor's instructions for a relative, or interviewing someone for an article. In each case, asking first costs nothing and keeps the recording usable later. And if a dispute with your phone company is about a number being moved without your consent, the steps in our guide to SIM swap fraud matter more than any recording.