# Call recording consent for service businesses in the US and Canada *Written by [Notaray team](https://notaray.com/about#notaray-team). Published: September 29, 2026. Updated: September 29, 2026.* > **Short answer** In the US and Canada, federal law permits recording a call when one party consents, and that party can be you. Some US states require every party to agree, and privacy law can add duties. The safe default is to say at the start of every call that it may be recorded. **This guide is not legal advice.** It explains how recording consent rules generally work so you can ask better questions. Laws change and depend on the facts, so check the current text and ask a lawyer who practises where your customers are. Recording a call is useful for a service business: it settles “that is not what I asked for” and it lets you review how a booking was made. It also touches criminal and privacy law. If an AI phone agent answers your calls, the same rules apply to the recording the agent’s system makes. ## Does federal law let you record a call? In the United States, the federal wiretap law, 18 U.S. Code § 2511, generally prohibits intercepting a phone call but has an exception when a party to the call has given consent. That is called one-party consent. If you are on the call, you can consent for yourself. In Canada, section 184 of the Criminal Code makes it an offence to intercept a private communication knowingly, and it excludes an interception made with the consent of the person who made the communication or the person meant to receive it. Consent of one party is enough under that section too. ## Which US states require every party to agree? Many states follow the federal one-party rule. Some require the consent of every party to a confidential call. California is one: its Penal Code § 632 covers recording a confidential communication without the consent of all parties. Other states have all-party rules too. The list changes and has exceptions, so check the current law for each place your callers may be. A business that takes calls from many places cannot know where every caller is. That is why the safe default is to act as if the strictest rule applies. ## What does privacy law add in Canada? A recording of someone’s voice, with their name and phone number, is personal information. Federal privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, expects an organization to say why it collects personal information and to collect it with consent. Quebec has its own private-sector privacy act, and a federal order exempts the businesses it covers from the federal act for personal information handled within Quebec. In practice this means telling callers that the call may be recorded and why, and keeping the recording no longer than you need it. ## What should a service business do in practice? Use one approach for every call rather than trying to sort callers by place. - Say it at the start of the call: “This call may be recorded to help us book and check your appointment.” If an AI agent answers, it should say this before it asks for anything. - Give the caller a choice where you can: a person to speak to, or a way to book without a recording. - Record just what you need, and decide how long you keep it. Write the period down. - Record who can listen and why. Limit access. - Put the same wording on your website and in your booking confirmation. - Ask a lawyer about your own state or province, and about any call between people in different places. Notaray is in development at Agnotiq. Whether it records audio, and for how long, are decisions we are making with design partners, so nothing in this guide describes a released feature. ## Frequently asked questions ### Can I record a call if I am one of the people on it? Under federal US law and the Canadian Criminal Code, generally yes, because you are a party and you can consent. State, provincial and privacy rules can still apply, so treat this as a starting point and not permission. ### What is the difference between one-party and all-party consent? One-party consent means one person on the call agreeing is enough. All-party consent means everyone on the call must agree, which is why announcing the recording at the start matters. ### Does an announcement at the start of a call count as consent? It is widely used as a way to get consent, because a caller who hears the notice and continues has been told. Whether it is enough in a given state is a question for a lawyer. ### Do the rules change if an AI agent handles the call? The recording rules do not change with who answers. Disclosure rules for AI are a separate subject, covered in guide four. ## Sources - [18 U.S. Code § 2511: Interception and disclosure of wire, oral, or electronic communications prohibited](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511), Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School. Read on: September 29, 2026. - [California Penal Code § 632](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN§ionNum=632), California Legislative Information. Read on: September 29, 2026. - [Criminal Code (R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46), section 184](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/c-46/section-184.html), Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada. Read on: September 29, 2026. - [Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (S.C. 2000, c. 5)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/p-8.6/), Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada. Read on: September 29, 2026. - [Organizations in the Province of Quebec Exemption Order (SOR/2003-374)](https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2003-374/FullText.html), Justice Laws Website, Government of Canada. Read on: September 29, 2026.