Recording someone without consent in California is generally illegal. The state requires every party to a private conversation to agree before anyone can record it, and secretly recording a confidential conversation can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony under Penal Code 632, with fines up to $10,000 and possible prison time.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632 The person you recorded can also sue you for at least $5,000 per violation. A few exceptions exist, and they matter, but the default rule is strict: get consent, or don’t record.
When Consent Is Required
Penal Code 632 forbids using any electronic device to eavesdrop on or record a “confidential communication” without the consent of everyone involved. The rule covers in-person conversations, phone calls, and video calls, and it applies to individuals, businesses, and government employees alike.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632
Calls involving a cell phone or cordless phone get an additional layer of protection under Penal Code 632.7, which bans recording any communication between cellular phones, cordless phones, or a mix of those with landlines, without all-party consent. This provision does not require the call to be “confidential” — it applies regardless of whether the caller expected privacy.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632.7
What Counts as a Confidential Conversation
Under PC 632, a conversation is confidential when the circumstances reasonably suggest at least one party wants it to stay between the participants. A phone call from home, a closed-door meeting, a quiet exchange across a desk — all carry a reasonable expectation of privacy.
The statute specifically excludes conversations at public gatherings, open legislative or judicial proceedings, and any setting where the parties could reasonably expect to be overheard or recorded.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632 Context decides the question. A shouted argument on a crowded sidewalk is not confidential. A hushed conversation at an empty restaurant table probably is. The test is whether a reasonable person in that situation would expect the conversation to stay private.
When You Can Record Without Consent
Public Settings and Video-Only Recording
Because the all-party consent rule applies only to confidential communications, you can record conversations in settings where privacy is not expected, such as a city council meeting, a protest, or a busy store.
California’s recording statutes also target audio. You can shoot video in public without anyone’s consent as long as you are not capturing the audio of a private conversation. That is why surveillance cameras recording video only are lawful without any consent notice.
Evidence of Specific Crimes
Penal Code 633.5 lets you 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. You must be a party to the conversation; the exception does not authorize third-party wiretapping.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 633.5
Recordings made under PC 633.5 are also admissible in prosecutions for those same crimes, which matters because illegally obtained recordings are otherwise barred from court.
Police Officers in Public
You have a First Amendment right to photograph, audio record, and video record police officers performing their duties in public. Penal Code 148(g) says that 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.4California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 148
The right to record is not a right to interfere. If you physically block an officer, crowd an arrest, or create a safety problem, you can be charged under PC 148(a) for resisting or obstructing.5Justia. CALCRIM No. 2656 – Resisting Peace Officer, Public Officer, or EMT (Penal Code 148(a)) Keep a reasonable distance and keep filming.
Calls Between California and Other States
Many states allow one-party consent recording, meaning one person on the call can record without telling the others. If you are in one of those states calling someone in California, California’s stricter rule still applies. The California Supreme Court decided this in Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, holding that Penal Code 632 governs whenever a confidential communication takes place partly in California.6Justia. Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney
Federal law sets a one-party consent floor under 18 U.S.C. § 2511, but that floor does not override stricter state laws.7Office 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, get everyone’s consent, and announce the recording at the start of the call if you are unsure.
Criminal Penalties
A PC 632 violation is a wobbler, chargeable 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, or state prison time, or both the fine and imprisonment. With a prior conviction under PC 631, 632, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636, the maximum fine rises to $10,000 per violation.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632 Recording a cell or cordless phone call in violation of PC 632.7 carries the same penalty structure.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632.7
Civil Lawsuits for Illegal Recording
The person you recorded can sue you. Penal Code 637.2 lets a plaintiff recover the greater of $5,000 per violation or three times their actual damages.8California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 637.2 The plaintiff does not need to prove any harm to collect the $5,000; the violation itself is enough. They can also ask a court to order the recording to stop, and combine that injunction with a damages claim in the same lawsuit.
Emotional distress injuries — anxiety, humiliation, loss of control over private information — count as actual damages and get tripled. For a business recording calls without disclosure, the per-call math gets expensive quickly.
Why an Illegal Recording Usually Can’t Be Used in Court
This is where people most often miscalculate. Even if a secret recording captures something damning, California law keeps it out of evidence. Penal Code 632(d) makes any recording obtained in violation of the statute inadmissible in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding. The only use allowed is as evidence in a prosecution for the recording violation itself.1California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 632
So if you secretly record a landlord admitting to something illegal, or a business partner confessing to fraud, the recording likely cannot be used in court against them. You could face criminal charges and a civil lawsuit for making it, and still be unable to use it. The PC 633.5 exception for violent felonies, extortion, and the other listed offenses is the narrow route around this exclusion, and it is limited to the specific crimes named in the statute.3California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 633.5 For everything else, consent is the only reliable path to a recording that is both legal and usable.