Companies May Be in Violation of Business Call Recording Laws

Businesses such as British Airways may be in violation of business call recording laws by recording calls without consent.

California residents may have a legal case against companies under business call recording laws. Although no specific allegations have been made, companies such as British Airways, American Airlines, Czech Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Dermalogica, Harman Audio, Hunter Boots, JBL Audio, and more are under investigation for recording conversations in California without consent.

Should the investigation show that these companies, and others, recorded calls without consumer consent, they may have violated California citizens’ privacy rights.

California has some of the strictest state privacy laws in the country, and the right to privacy is considered an inalienable right in the California Constitution. Various laws protect California citizen from privacy breaches online, in person, and through technology. In 1967, the California Invasion of Privacy Act was passed to protect California citizens from invasion of privacy via technological means.

When making or receiving calls, most consumers assume that their privacy is secure and any conversations are not being recorded without consent or warning. If calls are recorded, most businesses will include a message before the call to alert customers that their call is being recorded. Continuing with a call after such a message is played in generally considered consent.

However, if a business does not include a pre-recorded message or verbally attain consent for recording a call, they may be in violation of California business call recording laws.

California business call recording laws prohibit any person or business to record telephone calls without the consent of all parties participating in the call. California call recording statutes forbid “maliciously and without the consent of all parties to the communication, [intercepting], [receiving], or [assisting] in intercepting or receiving a communication transmitted between cellular radio telephones or between any cellular radio telephone and a landline telephone”. Similar statutes are in place for communication between other telephone devices.

When accused of wrongfully recording calls, businesses often claim that they record calls for training purposes or improving customer service. However, if they record without consent from all parties, the act is still deemed illegal under California business call recording laws, no matter if the intent is not malicious. In these cases, consumers may be eligible to file a lawsuit against the business for breach of privacy.

Several companies have paid millions of dollars to settle lawsuits over alleged violations of California business call recording laws. A business that violates the laws may be subject to damages of $5,000 per violation per plaintiff or three times the amount of damages suffered.

If you live in California and believe you did not receive a warning when calling or receiving a call from a toll-free number, for businesses such as British Airways, your call may have been recorded without your consent. If your privacy was breached, you may be entitled to compensation under California business call recording laws. A call recording lawsuit could help recover compensation for damages, breach of privacy, and more.