In California, recording someone without consent is generally illegal when the conversation is private. The state requires consent from every party to a confidential communication before anyone can record it, and violating that rule can bring criminal charges, a lawsuit for at least $5,000 per recording, and a court order barring the recording from ever being used as evidence. A few narrow exceptions exist, but they are much smaller than most people assume.
The All-Party Consent Rule
California’s core recording statute is Penal Code 632. It makes it a crime to use any electronic device to eavesdrop on or record a “confidential communication” without the consent of every person involved.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632 The rule covers in-person conversations, phone calls, and video calls, and it applies equally to individuals, businesses, and government employees.
Cell phone and cordless phone conversations get their own rule under Penal Code 632.7, which requires all-party consent for recording any call between cellular phones, cordless phones, or a mix of cellular, cordless, and landline phones. PC 632.7 does not require the call to be “confidential” — it bars recording these calls without consent regardless of whether the caller expected privacy.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632.7
A separate statute, Penal Code 631, targets third-party wiretapping: tapping into phone lines or intercepting messages in transit without consent. The penalties mirror PC 632, and a prior conviction under either statute increases punishment under the other.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 631
What Counts as a Confidential Conversation
The all-party consent requirement in PC 632 only kicks in when a conversation is “confidential.” That means circumstances reasonably suggest at least one party wants the discussion to stay between the people involved.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632 A phone call from your kitchen, a closed-door meeting, a quiet exchange at an empty table — those carry a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The statute explicitly excludes conversations at public gatherings, open legislative or judicial proceedings, and any setting where the parties could reasonably expect to be overheard or recorded. A shouted argument on a busy sidewalk isn’t confidential. A hushed conversation in an otherwise empty restaurant probably is. Context decides it.
When You Can Record Without Consent
Public Settings and Video-Only Recording
Because the consent rule only applies to confidential communications, you can record conversations in places where privacy isn’t expected: a city council meeting, a protest, a busy store aisle. California’s recording statutes also govern audio specifically, so you can shoot video in public without anyone’s consent as long as you aren’t capturing the audio of a private conversation. That’s why surveillance cameras that record only video are legal in stores and parking lots.
Evidence of Certain Serious Crimes
Penal Code 633.5 carves out a narrow exception. You can secretly record a conversation if you reasonably believe it will capture evidence of extortion, kidnapping, bribery, any felony involving violence against a person (including human trafficking), harassment through repeated threatening communications, or domestic violence.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 633.5 You must be a party to the conversation; the exception does not permit third-party wiretapping.
Recordings made under PC 633.5 are also admissible in prosecutions for those same crimes. That matters because, as explained below, illegally obtained recordings are otherwise barred from court. This is the only reliable route to using a secret recording as evidence in California.
Recording Police Officers
You have a First Amendment right to photograph, audio record, and video record police officers performing their duties in public. California wrote this directly into Penal Code 148(g): recording an officer in a public place, or from any place where you have a right to be, does not by itself violate the law and cannot be used as reasonable suspicion to detain you or probable cause to arrest you.5California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 148
The right to record is not a right to interfere. Physically blocking an officer, crowding into a safety problem, or otherwise obstructing their work can still lead to a charge under PC 148(a) for resisting or obstructing.6Justia. CALCRIM No. 2656 – Resisting Peace Officer, Public Officer, or EMT (Penal Code 148(a)) Keep a reasonable distance, don’t intervene, and keep recording.
Calls Between California and Other States
If you’re in California and the other person is in a state that allows one-party consent recording, California’s stricter rule still applies. The California Supreme Court settled this in Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, holding that PC 632 governs whenever a confidential communication takes place partly in California, even if the other party’s home state would allow the recording.7Justia. Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney
Federal law sets a one-party consent baseline under 18 U.S.C. § 2511, but that floor does not override stricter state laws.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 2511 – Interception and Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications Prohibited For any call touching California, the safe move is to get everyone’s consent before recording. Announce it at the start of the call.
Criminal Penalties
A violation of PC 632 is a “wobbler.” Prosecutors can charge it as a misdemeanor or a felony even on a first offense. A first violation carries a fine of up to $2,500 per violation, up to one year in county jail, state prison time, or both a fine and imprisonment. A prior conviction under PC 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636 raises the maximum fine to $10,000 per violation.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632
Wiretapping under PC 631 and recording cell phone calls under PC 632.7 carry the same penalty structure.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632.7
Civil Lawsuits by the Person Recorded
Criminal charges are not the only exposure. Under Penal Code 637.2, anyone whose conversation was illegally recorded can sue the recorder for the greater of $5,000 per violation or three times their actual damages.9California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 637.2 The plaintiff doesn’t need to prove any actual harm to collect the $5,000 amount; the violation itself is enough.
The plaintiff can also ask a court to order the recorder to stop, and can pursue that injunction alongside damages in the same lawsuit. Emotional injuries such as anxiety and humiliation count as “actual damages” and get tripled. For a business recording calls without disclosure, the per-violation math scales quickly.
Why an Illegal Recording Usually Can’t Be Used in Court
This is where people most often miscalculate the risk. Even when an illegal recording captures something damaging, California law bars it from being used as evidence. Penal Code 632(d) makes any recording obtained in violation of the statute inadmissible in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632 The only carve-out is using it as evidence in a prosecution for the recording violation itself. PC 631(d) contains the same exclusionary rule for wiretap evidence.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 631
Practically, this means secretly recording a landlord admitting to something illegal, or a business partner confessing to fraud, produces a recording you almost certainly can’t use in court. You could still face criminal charges and a civil lawsuit for making it. The PC 633.5 exception for evidence of violent felonies, extortion, and similar serious crimes is the narrow route around this exclusion, and it only reaches the specific offenses listed in the statute.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 633.5 If your situation doesn’t fit inside it, get consent or don’t record.