
This Call Is Being Recorded - edent
http://shkspr.mobi/blog/2013/07/this-call-is-being-recorded/
======
objclxt
From the link:

> _In the UK, it is perfectly legal for an individual to record their calls -
> and there is no need to inform the other party nor obtain consent._

This is missing an important qualifier. In the UK it is legal to record a call
without telling the other party _for your own use_. However, if you intend to
make the call available to a third party, you _must_ have consent. You
couldn't record a call without telling someone and then put it up on your
blog, for example.

Other countries will and do vary!

~~~
swombat
"own use" \- does that include a business's own use?

For example, could my employees record some calls for each other's use within
the business, or would that count as a third party, if those call recordings
remained private to the company?

~~~
Nursie
It seems to be standard practice to have a "calls may be recorded for training
purposes" disclaimer these days. Some even say "please tell the operator
straight away if you do not wish to be recorded".

This doesn't really tell you what's legal or not, but I would assume that the
only reason they put that stuff in is because they have to.

~~~
omh
They may just add the disclaimer because they find it makes customers behave
better. I suspect that knowing you're being recorded may reduce the chance of
you screaming abuse etc.

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mcculley
I've been wondering why this isn't standard already. I would love to have my
phone record every call I make. It could store the raw audio, tag it with
metadata about who was on the call, what time it occurred, and where I was. It
could do speech to text asynchronously (if you store the raw audio forever,
you could potentially get better transcripts as technology improves).

I would love it if Siri was paying attention to things said during the call.
It could suggest calendar entries, notes, and reminders based on things said.

Then of course, all of the transcripts would be searchable via Spotlight or
whatever indexing system one uses.

This reminds me that it annoys me that there are no useful actions available
on iOS for working with voicemail. I often would love to forward a voicemail
to email in order to delegate a task.

~~~
jdiez17
Yeah, having Siri or your equivalent voice assistant listen in during calls
could be interesting. Reminds me of Jane from Children of the Mind.

There could potentially be major privacy issues, though.

~~~
mcculley
I agree about the privacy issues. Siri as currently implemented requires
sending data off to the Internet, which is one reason why I don't personally
use it very much. One of the technical reasons that Siri itself can't do this
currently is that on some providers it can't do data and voice concurrently on
the GSM radio. I don't know how much of Siri could be done locally on the
phone, but that can't be far off.

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telecuda
This is a great app, but FYI there are a very limited number of phones that
record the line audio. Most require it to record through the mic while on
speakerphone mode.

Not Supported:

[http://www.grinzone-apps.com/1/post/2013/04/not-supported-
de...](http://www.grinzone-apps.com/1/post/2013/04/not-supported-devices.html)

Tested (doesn't mean supported necessarily):

[http://www.grinzone-apps.com/1/post/2013/04/welcome-to-
our-b...](http://www.grinzone-apps.com/1/post/2013/04/welcome-to-our-blog-
support.html)

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shanelja
I don't see why me recording calls for use in a criminal trial would be
illegal, when the NSA or GCHQ doing it against me is perfectly fine.

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dethtron5000
In the United States, rules about call recording vary a lot from state to
state. Definitely check your local laws...

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wcoenen
I've been using InCall with the Nexus 4 for a while and it works well, except
when using my car's bluetooth phone integration.

I wonder what the magic is though. How did they work around the problems with
MediaRecorder.AudioSource.VOICE_CALL on most devices?

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peterkelly
And there I was, thinking this was going to be about the NSA. Isn't this fact
implicit now?

~~~
tmuir
Same here. I was expecting the whole "a call may only be recorded if two
parties are aware, the recorder and the NSA"

~~~
e3pi
It is. The grassroot NSA-YOUTH movement thrives on all these new snoop apps.

------
csmatt
Off topic, but does anyone else make all their calls through Google Voice and
get the 'This call is now being recorded' message randomly during
conversations?

It has spooked everyone who has been on the other end of the line when it
occurs.

~~~
aroch
If you accidentally press 4 during a call, you'll get that

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webignition
"More than that, for some people [that the call is being recorded] really
improves their attitude and their service."

I'm interested in hearing in what ways a caller's attitude changes when they
know a call is being recorded.

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malandrew
With Google Voice, calls are routed through Google before they get to you
IIRC.

With this in mind, would it be possible to route voice calls to a server in a
jurisdiction where recording without consent is legal, have that server then
connect to your phone and record both sides of the conversation.

i.e.: US phone line -> Recording Server Abroad -> US phone line

Also, does broadcasting count as recording? What if all calls are broadcast
live (possibly encrypted) and then there is a server that is listening to all
broadcasts on that frequency and records them?

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genesee
As someone mentioned below, Google Voice can do this natively if you press a
button during a call. It alerts the person on the other end of the line and
makes a recording available in your account following the call. Quite useful
and works on any phone provided you're using GV.

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jedmeyers
A lot of call centers will hang up if you tell them that the call is being
recorded on your side.

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ck2
Given the storage size of the Black Star, _all_ calls worldwide are being
recorded. Forever. "Just in case".

But ironically you can go to prison in many states in the USA if you record
calls without the other party agreeing.

~~~
tghw
Only 12 states:

    
    
      * California
      * Connecticut 
      * Florida
      * Hawaii (in general a one-party state, but requires two-party consent if the recording device is installed in a private place)
      * Illinois (debated, see next section)
      * Maryland
      * Massachusetts 
      * Montana (requires notification only)
      * Nevada 
      * New Hampshire
      * Pennsylvania
      * Washington
    

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#Unite...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws#United_States)

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tombrossman
I get a "This item is not available in your country' error when I try to
install from the Play store, which is strange for a free app. Anyone else?

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larrik
I had this on my Treo. It was incredibly helpful, especially if you hate
writing stuff down.

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qwerta
Nice, but why that program asks for network access permission? Deal breaker
for me.

~~~
jdiez17
In order to upload recordings to Dropbox.

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ifelsethen
i mean really? my ancient palm treo 600 could do this (and so much more newly
rediscovered functionality of modern 'smart'phones.)

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elchief
Anyone know what the law is in Canada?

