August 18, 2026
Call Recording Laws by State: One-Party vs Two-Party
Call recording consent laws split into two categories. One-party consent means a single participant on the call must agree, and if you are on the call, that participant can be you. All-party consent — usually called two-party consent — means everyone on the line must agree. Federal law sets the one-party floor; roughly a dozen states require more.
This is a summary written by a phone company, not legal advice. Where the answer matters — recording a class of calls, defending a recording in a dispute — your counsel decides, not this page.
What is the difference between one-party and two-party consent?
One-party consent permits recording when at least one participant knows the call is being recorded. All-party consent requires that every participant know.
The federal Wiretap Act (18 U.S.C. § 2511) is the one-party baseline for the whole country. States may be stricter, and about a dozen are. They may not be looser, which is why the practical rule for a business is that the strictest applicable law governs your policy.
The penalties are not theoretical. Illegal recording is a criminal offense in most all-party states and carries a private right of action in several, meaning the person you recorded can sue you directly. In two-party states, the announcement at the top of the call is not politeness — it is the thing that makes the recording lawful.
Which states require all-party consent to record a call?
The commonly cited all-party states are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
The count varies between twelve and fifteen depending on who is counting, because several of those states are contested or partial:
State | Why it is complicated |
|---|---|
Connecticut | All-party for civil liability; the criminal statute is one-party |
Michigan | The statute names the "eavesdropper"; courts have split on whether a participant is one |
Nevada | One-party by statute, read as all-party for telephone calls by the state supreme court |
Oregon | All-party for in-person conversations; telephone rules differ |
Illinois | The eavesdropping statute was rewritten after a 2014 constitutional challenge |
Massachusetts | Prohibits secret recording specifically — disclosure is the operative fact |
Treat any list you find online, including this one, as a starting point rather than an authority. Statutes get amended and courts reinterpret them.
Which state's law applies when the caller is in another state?
Assume the strictest of the states involved. That is the only rule that survives contact with a real call log.
Courts have gone different directions on interstate recording, and the answer can depend on where the recording device sits, where the parties sit, and which state has the greater interest in the dispute. None of that is knowable while a call is ringing.
For a business with a public phone number, the analysis is short: you do not know where your callers are. A Florida clinic takes calls from snowbirds in Michigan. An HVAC company in a border metro covers two states with one number. If you record at all, record everyone the same way, and announce it.
Does an announcement count as consent?
Yes. In all-party states, a clear announcement followed by the caller continuing the call is the standard mechanism for obtaining consent, and it is what most businesses rely on.
The logic is implied consent: the caller is told, and by staying on the line, agrees. That is why the announcement has to play before recording starts, has to be audible, and has to actually say what is happening.
A workable script:
"This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes. If you prefer not to be recorded, let us know and we will continue without it."
Two details that matter more than the wording. First, the announcement has to be true — if you record every inbound call, do not say "may be" in a way designed to imply you probably do not. Second, if you offer an opt-out, staff need somewhere to go when a caller takes it. A caller who says "please don't record me" and gets recorded anyway is worse off than one who was never told.
How does Signal handle the announcement?
Signal records inbound calls, and recording requires a consent announcement that plays to the caller before recording begins. It is not an optional extra on the feature.
You upload the announcement audio yourself, which is deliberate: the wording belongs to you and your counsel, and a stock prompt written by your phone vendor is a bad place to put a legal representation. The recordings library covers uploading and managing prompt audio, and the same library holds your auto attendant greetings.
Recording is off until you turn it on, per account. When you turn it on, set the announcement in the same sitting rather than intending to come back to it.
Can I record only some of my calls?
Yes, and for many offices selective recording is the better policy.
Recording is configured per account rather than per caller, so "some calls" in practice means some lines. A common shape: record the sales or dispatch number where order details and commitments live, and leave the clinical, legal, or HR line unrecorded entirely. A medical practice that records only its billing line has cut most of its exposure without giving up the recordings it actually uses.
The other reason to be selective is that recordings accumulate. Everything you keep is discoverable, and volume is what turns a records request into a project. How long you keep call recordings is the companion decision to whether you record at all, and it deserves an equal amount of thought.
If you want the operational value without the retention problem, consider what you are actually after. Coaching a front desk usually needs a handful of recent calls, not a year of them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between one-party and two-party consent?
One-party consent means one participant on the call must know it is being recorded, and that participant can be you. Two-party — properly all-party — consent means every participant must know. Federal law permits one-party recording; about a dozen states require all-party, and the stricter law controls.
Which states require all-party consent to record a call?
California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington are the commonly cited all-party states. Several are contested or apply differently to phone calls than to in-person conversations, so confirm the current rule with counsel before relying on any list.
Which state's law applies when the caller is in another state?
Courts have reached different conclusions, and the outcome can turn on where the recording equipment sits and which state has the greater interest. Because a public business number receives calls from anywhere, the only durable policy is to follow the strictest rule and announce recording on every call.
Does an announcement count as consent?
In all-party states, a clear announcement followed by the caller staying on the line is the standard basis for implied consent. The announcement has to play before recording starts, be audible, and be accurate. If you offer callers an opt-out, staff need a procedure for honoring it.
Can I record only some of my calls?
Yes. Recording applies per account, so selective recording usually means recording the numbers where the content is administrative — sales, dispatch, billing — and leaving clinical or legal lines out entirely. Less recorded audio is less to store, secure, and produce later.
If you are deciding whether to record at all, tell us which of your numbers carry the calls you would actually want to hear again. We would rather help you record one line well than all of them by default.