California Phone Recording Law Violations Bring Steep Fines for Businesses

Sometimes when customers call into a company like Czech Airlines, they may experience violations of California phone call recording law. This is because California law regulates the methods by which businesses like Czech Airlines can record phone calls made to or received from customers.

What are Call Recording Laws?

Both the U.S. government and the State of California have phone call recording laws that affect the ability of companies to record individuals in private phone conversation. In fact, California phone call recording law is more strict than federal law.

Federal law obligates someone who may record a phone conversation, like Czech Airlines or other companies, to make sure that at least one party is aware of the recording. In essence, if a company records a phone call, only the company representative need be aware of this recording according to federal law.

California phone call recording law is much more strict. California phone recording law obligates the company or whomever is recording the call to ensure that both parties are aware of the recording. The State of California has a long history of ensuring the privacy of its citizens.

This “wiretapping” law is California penal code 632 and applies to all confidential communications, including phone calls. California phone call recording law is considered “two-party consent.”

Often, companies like Czech Airlines want to record calls with customers for customer service reasons or training purposes. Sometimes, when a customer calls into a company, they might be greeted with a recording that says, “This call may be recorded for quality and training purposes…”

If a customer then remains on the line, he or she is implicitly giving his or her permission to be recorded. If the customer hangs up on a company, the customer has denied consent.

Two Party Consent

The potential for California phone call recording violations occur when phone calls are recorded but the customer is not made aware of the recording. California phone call recording law violations may occur even if a company is not located in California. If a customer resides in California and makes a phone call to a company outside the state, California phone call recording law still applies. Both the employee of the company and the customer must both be aware and give consent for that phone call to be recorded.

When a company violates California phone call recording laws, the company may be subject to large fines. California phone call recording law requires those who violate the law to pay fines of up to $5,000 per violation or three times the amount of damages suffered. This can add up greatly for a company who has participated in illegal phone call recording over a period of time for thousands of customers.

If you have called in to a company like Czech Airlines or another company and feel as if you may have been recorded but did not give your consent, you may benefit from speaking to an experienced attorney.

Join a FREE California Call Recording Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you live in California and you did not receive a warning when calling a toll-free number, your call may have been recorded in violation of California law, and you may be entitled to compensation. See if you qualify to file a California call recording class action lawsuit.

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