Hey everyone, I found out my spouse left a digital audio recorder running all day in our home. It even picked up some phone conversations I had, though not intentionally. I’m trying to figure out if this is legal or if there’s something I should be concerned about. We live in Indiana, which I know is a one-party consent state. Anyone have experience or advice?
Indiana being a one-party consent state means at least one person in the convo has to agree to be recorded. Was your spouse part of the phone calls?
Jude said:
Indiana being a one-party consent state means at least one person in the convo has to agree to be recorded. Was your spouse part of the phone calls?
No, the phone calls were just accidentally recorded because the device was left running all day.
Jude said:
Indiana being a one-party consent state means at least one person in the convo has to agree to be recorded. Was your spouse part of the phone calls?
That’s probably an issue then. If they’re not part of the phone convo, it might not meet the consent requirement.
Did your spouse tell you they were leaving the recorder on? Consent can make a big difference here.
Avery said:
Did your spouse tell you they were leaving the recorder on? Consent can make a big difference here.
Nope, I didn’t know about it at all until I found it.
Avery said:
Did your spouse tell you they were leaving the recorder on? Consent can make a big difference here.
Yeah, that’s a problem. If you didn’t know and they weren’t part of the convos, it’s likely illegal.
The recording of in-person convos might be legal if they were part of those. But phone convos are another story.
Meech said:
The recording of in-person convos might be legal if they were part of those. But phone convos are another story.
So in-person is fine, but phone convos could be an issue even if it wasn’t intentional?
Meech said:
The recording of in-person convos might be legal if they were part of those. But phone convos are another story.
Exactly. For phone calls, they’d have to be part of the conversation to legally record it.
If they left the recorder running and left the house, that’s a definite no. They’re not part of anything being recorded at that point.
Devi said:
If they left the recorder running and left the house, that’s a definite no. They’re not part of anything being recorded at that point.
Right, that makes sense. So it depends on whether they’re actually present or part of the convo?
Devi said:
If they left the recorder running and left the house, that’s a definite no. They’re not part of anything being recorded at that point.
Yeah, that’s how one-party consent works. Leaving it running while absent crosses the line.
You might want to talk to a lawyer about this. Even if it wasn’t intentional, the phone recordings could cause legal trouble.
Skylar said:
You might want to talk to a lawyer about this. Even if it wasn’t intentional, the phone recordings could cause legal trouble.
Good idea. I wasn’t sure if the unintentional part made it less serious or not.
Skylar said:
You might want to talk to a lawyer about this. Even if it wasn’t intentional, the phone recordings could cause legal trouble.
It could still be serious. Unintentional or not, recording phone calls without consent is usually a big deal.