This article looks at the legal issues around recording calls on your mobile and the different methods.
As an individual mobile phone user, secretly recording a conversation is not a criminal offence in the UK. It’s not prohibited if that recording is just for personal use. The consent of the person you’re recording is not needed. There may, however, be a question about whether it’s ethical, depending on the circumstances.
There are certain situations where the legality of recording a call on your mobile may be questioned:
- If the recording is then sold to a third party or made public without the participant’s consent.
- If there’s a claim for damages involved.
- In the case of journalists, if consent hasn’t been obtained or the recording is not judged to be in the public interest.
There may be other circumstances where recording calls on your mobile could contravene laws. But, again, this would need to be checked with a qualified legal professional.
What About Businesses?
For businesses, there are more rules and laws to comply with regarding recording phone calls. These can include a potentially complex mix of the following:
- Under the Telecommunications (Lawful Business Practice) (Interception of Communications) Regulations 2000, there are some situations where recording a phone call is legal. These include preventing or detecting crime in the interests of national security or ascertaining whether standards are met by persons using the system in their duties. The complete set of circumstances can be found here on the government’s website.
- Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), individuals can tape conversations if the recording is for their use.
- Businesses storing personal information (such as recorded phone calls) must register with the Data Protection Commissioner.
- Suppose a business records a call with an employee without their consent. In that case, this could breach their privacy under the Human Rights Act 1998.
- Under GDPR, there are several aspects to comply with when recording calls. Businesses must acquire consent and explain why they’re recording calls. Participants may consent to calls being recorded for a specific stated purpose, to fulfil a legal obligation, defend the interests of participants, or in the public’s best interest. Also, how the data (phone call recording) is processed, stored, and shared matter for data protection GDPR. Call recordings must be securely stored and managed and only retained for the length of time required to fulfil the purpose of the recording. In addition, the tapes held by a business must be relevant to that business and only owned by that business.
How To Record Calls On Your Mobile
There are several different ways to record calls on a mobile. These include:
- On Android, using Google Voice app or, until recently, other third-party Android apps such as the Truecaller app. However, due to the vulnerability to misuse of the Accessibility API, an update to the Google Play Store developer policy means that third-party call recording apps must stop offering their services.
- Use the Voice Memos app to record a phone call (on a speakerphone) on an iPhone.
- On an iPhone, use an iPhone recorder app that allows 3-way conference calls (a 3-Way Call Merge App), e.g. Rev, TapeACall Pro, or Call Recorder Pro.
- Gain consent from the caller, but the caller is on speaker, and record them with an external device.
What Does This Mean For Your Business?
Although it sounds like a straightforward subject, and apps exist to enable recordings, for businesses, recording calls on mobiles is covered by several laws. These relate to data protection and human rights. There are situations where recording calls would be acceptable; businesses need to be clear about why they are doing it. Taking steps such as gaining consent, storing the data compliant with GDPR and ensuring that storage is set up to allow deletion if requested. Recording calls on mobiles may be helpful but possibly legally complex for businesses. If in any doubt, companies would be advised to check with legally qualified professionals.
Disclaimer: The contents of this article should not be used or accepted as legal advice or legally accurate. The information has been researched and compiled in good faith; however, the writers are not legally qualified or legal experts. The data is included here to create an interesting article that is correct to the best of our knowledge.
