Call recording consent laws by state (2026): one-party vs all-party

The federal rule: one-party consent

The federal Wiretap Act lets a person who is a party to a phone call record it, and lets anyone record with the prior consent of one party, unless the recording is made to commit a crime or a tort (18 U.S.C. §2511(2)(d)). A business on the call is a party, so federal law alone does not require telling the customer.

State law can be stricter, and in a dozen states it is. Federal law sets the floor; the stricter state rule applies to calls that touch that state.

Last verified October 8, 2026 against the statute text linked in the sources. State laws change; confirm the current rule before relying on it. This is general information, not legal advice.

All-party consent states for phone calls

States people get wrong

• Oregon: phone calls are one-party (ORS 165.540(1)(a)); only in-person conversations require that everyone be told.
• Michigan: the eavesdropping statute (MCL 750.539c) reads as all-party, but its definition covers the discourse "of others", and Sullivan v. Gray (Mich. App. 1982) held a participant cannot eavesdrop. In practice participants may record; announcing is still the cautious choice.
• Connecticut: all-party under the civil statute, one-party under criminal law. A business call recorded without notice risks a civil suit, not a prosecution.
• Delaware: two statutes point opposite ways and no controlling state supreme court ruling resolves it, so it is treated as all-party here.

Calls that cross state lines

A call between a one-party state and an all-party state is the common case for any business with customers in more than one state. 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 California clients, because California's privacy interest would be impaired more. Washington's statute covers calls "between points within or without the state" on its face.

The practical rule: if either end of the call may be in an all-party state, or you do not know where the other person is, announce the recording at the start of every call.

What counts as consent

1. 1

   Announce at the start

   Say the call may be recorded before the conversation begins, and record the announcement itself. Washington and Connecticut expressly treat a recorded announcement as consent.

2. 2

   Offer a way out

   In prior-consent states such as California, Florida, Maryland and Pennsylvania, an announcement followed by the caller staying on the line is the common practice, but the statutes ask for consent, not notice. Anyone who objects should get an unrecorded call or a callback.

3. 3

   Use a tone only where the law names it

   Connecticut accepts a warning tone about every 15 seconds. Elsewhere, a spoken announcement is the safer form.

4. 4

   Keep proof

   Store the recording with its announcement, the call time and both numbers, so consent can be shown later.

How Lead Friendly handles recording consent

Lead Friendly treats the twelve states in the table above, plus any contact whose state is unknown, as all-party. On AI calls to those contacts, the agent's opening disclosure includes a recording statement; it is spoken by the AI agent, so test the opening of your agent before going live. Calls a person places through the softphone are not recorded for those contacts by default: recording starts only after the rep asks the customer and confirms in the dialer that they agreed, and that confirmation is logged with the call.