California High Court Backs Consent for Recording Calls (1)

California’s broad right to privacy requires all parties to consent to recording phone calls, a unanimous state Supreme Court said in a case involving business loan provider LoanMe Inc.

The court reversed a California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District ruling in December 2019 that held the law prohibited only third-party eavesdroppers from recording without consent, and didn’t apply to call participants.

Interpreting the protections as applying to all parties to a call, as well as nonparties, “reflects the most sensible reading of the statutory text, is consistent with the relevant legislative history, and advances the Legislature’s apparent ...