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  1. #1

    Default Recording Only One Side of Telephone Call

    I have an interesting legal question that I haven't seen answered anywhere else. It's not quite a civil rights issue, but I didn't know where else to post it.

    Is it legal in a two party state for one of the parties to secretly record only his side of the telephone conversation? In other words, only the party making the recording is audible.

    If you know the answer, please cite a reference. Thanks.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Recording Only One Side of Telephone Call

    There's no law against recording yourself.

    As you ignored the instruction to identify your state, nobody can provide a legal reference for your state. Not that you're likely to find a statute or case that says the obvious.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Recording Only One Side of Telephone Call

    Thank you for your reply. I'm sorry I didn't mention the state. I live in TN.

    I'm not sure my question is as straight-forward as it Mr. Knowitall implies.

    A recording of one side of a conversation contains information about what the other party said. For instance, "Jack, did you just say that you murdered Mrs. Jones?"

    Also, if what passes through the telephone isn't recorded (i.e., the other party), then the stricter laws governing non-telephonic recorded conversations might apply.

    I believe it's generally illegal to secretly record non-telephonic conversations unless there is no expectation of privacy. And, as I said, even if only one side is recorded, that gives information about the other side. So the issue is not completely clear-cut to me.

    I would be interested if there are any cases or laws that address this specific issue.

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Recording Only One Side of Telephone Call

    Parminides, I believe your question is an excellent one, and I too would like to hear more discussion on the matter. I agree with you that the answer may not be as straightforward as Mr. Knowitall indicates. I found the following except in Silverman v. United States (365 U.S. 505 (1961), the famous "spike-mike" case):

    <quote>

    As to the inapplicability of § 605 of the Communications Act of 1934, we agree with the Court of Appeals. That section provides that "... no person not being authorized by the sender shall intercept any communication and divulge or publish the existence, contents, substance, purport, effect, or meaning of such intercepted communication to any person...." While it is true that much of what the officers heard consisted of the petitioners' share of telephone conversations, we cannot say that the officers intercepted these conversations within the meaning of the statute.

    Similar contentions have been rejected here at least twice before. In Irvine v. California, 347 U. S. 128, 347 U. S. 131, the Court said: "Here the apparatus of the officers was not in any way connected with the telephone facilities, there was no interference with the communications system, there was no interception of any message. All that was heard through the microphone was what an eavesdropper, hidden in the hall, the bedroom, or the closet, might have heard. We do not suppose it is illegal to testify to what another person is heard to say merely because he is saying it into a telephone."

    In Goldman v. United States, 316 U. S. 129, 316 U. S. 134, it was said that "[t]he listening in the next room to the words of [the petitioner] as he talked into the telephone receiver was no more the interception of a wire communication, within the meaning of the Act, than would have been the overhearing of the conversation by one sitting in the same room."

    </quote>

  5. #5
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    Default Re: Recording Only One Side of Telephone Call

    Of course, saying (and recording) "Jack, did you just say that you murdered Mrs. Jones?" is NOT proof that Jack did say that, or that he murdered Mrs. Jones. In fact, I very much doubt that this would be admissible in court at all, if that is what the OP has in mind.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Recording Only One Side of Telephone Call

    Quote Quoting Nobdy
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    Parminides, I believe your question is an excellent one, and I too would like to hear more discussion on the matter. I agree with you that the answer may not be as straightforward as Mr. Knowitall indicates. I found the following except in Silverman v. United States (365 U.S. 505 (1961), the famous "spike-mike" case)....
    It's, well, nice that you think it might be illegal for somebody to record himself, and it's nice that you think irrelevant case law somehow might make it illegal, but... Really.

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