Laws on Audio Recording

[josieanna]

Is it against the law to make a recording of someone without them being aware of it?

[Booldawg]

yes it is.

[Booldawg]

which is why companies on the phone have to alert you if they're taping the converstion 'for training purposes'

[josieanna]

I know the law against phone calls.  But say if someone had planted a mic in a public place ie: at work, in the pub etc?  Is that against the law?  I know the evidence could not be used in court as it's not consenting?  Any more help?

[Booldawg]

well i'm not entirely sure, sounds like you're needing to catch something/someone out regardless of the legality issue.

My best advice would be buy an Olympus DS-2 digital voice recorder. It has a 12 hour recording time and can be set on a timer to record on/off (the other Olympus models don't have the timer facility) Is about the size of a mobile phone and costs about 120.00. Playback can be either through the internal speaker or downloading onto your PC

[josieanna]

No, no I'm not trying to catch someone out but you certainly know your stuff, so if I do need to I'll be sure to get in touch.  A friend of mine is sure she was recorded saying something in a public place and wanted to know if anything came of it, if it was illegal or not.

[Mattk]

i would say that it is not illegal as things like that are used in courtcases.if it was illegal it would be insubmissable.

[Kerplunk]

As long as she said it of her own free will and wasn't lead or prompted into saying it, it could be used in court.

[badams]

It depends on what you are recording.  You could not record a musical recital, a singer, or a poet etc. without their consent - the copyright laws apply.  If the person is genuinely in a public place (where any member of the public could potentially hear them), then no, it would not be illegal to record them. (Although that does not mean you can do whatever you want with the recording! But actually making and having the recording is not illegal).

Outside of a public place, you could be guilty of infringement of their right to privacy.  If you are recording in a place which is not public, but the person has no control over the premises and is there voluntarily, you can record provided there is a clear warning that conversations may be recorded.