Getting Call Recording Legality Sorted out Down Under

Your faithful TMC (News - Alert) Australasian correspondent checking in here from the TMC offices in Mangawhai, New Zealand. Turning our attention from Megaupload, another fine day in New Zealand tech history, to today’s topic:

Call Trunk lets you record any phone conversation you want. Great. Is that legal?

Writing for Gizmodo Australia industry observer Nick Broughall, who identifies himself as somebody who uses call recording on a professional basis from time to time, gives the basics of how Call Trunk works, which show why it’s such a useful little idea:

It records both landlines and mobiles, and keeps the recording online so you can refer to it again. For journalists this is a godsend, as we can get the quotes... exactly... right, down to the ums and coughs, and there’s a record proving that no, in fact, you weren’t misquoted, you really did say that.

To record the call you put in your own number and the number you’re calling, Broughall explains, and there you have it, a clear phone call being recorded by Call Trunk. There’s an app for smartphone users to make life easier. The recording can be synced with online storage services like Evernote (News - Alert) or Dropbox, he says, and it works with Skype too.

Great. The bee’s knees. But is it legal? Will you be sharing a cell with Kim Dotcom if you use it? What about these call centers that say “This call is being recorded for such and such yada yada yada, quality and training blah blah blah,” how do they get away with it?

According to what Broughall says, Australian law notes that you must identify to your conversation partner the fact that the call is being recorded, and offer an option to move the conversation to an unrecorded line if they wish. In general the government tends to frown on the practice, so it’s probably better to check with an actual lawyer or someone else who knows the law if you’re planning on doing it.

In Britain, the law states that okay, it’s legal to record business calls if you are, in fact, using call recording to evidence transactions, improve processes and quality and not just build a five-minute presentation at the office Christmas party titled “Dumbest Calls We Got This Year.” It would be illegal to sell a recorded call without the permission of everyone involved, however. You have to tell your employees in writing that they’re being recorded, and having some sort of policy or contract written out explaining why you’re doing it is a good idea, too.

You can even record phone calls at home as long as it’s for your own use, and we’re not even going to go there. What would break the law would be making part of the call available to a third party, and we’re definitely not going to go there.

Now in America, as everywhere else, it’s illegal to record a call you’re not party to. According to Call Corder “U.S. federal law allows recording of phone calls and other electronic communications with the consent of at least one party to the call,” and in fact most states say you can do it without even telling the other person they’re being recorded.

But again, we’re not lawyers, ask somebody who knows the law in your jurisdiction before you plunge in. Kim Dotcom’s awfully big.

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO East 2012, taking place Jan. 31-Feb. 3 2012, in Miami, FL. ITEXPO (News - Alert) offers an educational program to help corporate decision makers select the right IP-based voice, video, fax and unified communications solutions to improve their operations. It's also where service providers learn how to profitably roll out the services their subscribers are clamoring for – and where resellers can learn about new growth opportunities. To register, click here.

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