Attorneys are investigating several company phone lines, including the Southwest Rapid Rewards line, regarding reports of undisclosed phone call recording in California.

According to California law, all parties involved in a phone call must consent to the recording of the call. Call recording lawsuits filed under this law in recent years have resulted in call recording settlements worth millions of dollars.

What is Call Recording?

Many businesses record customer calls for various purposes, including use in trainings or to improve their customer service. However, the state of California has privacy laws that make it illegal for individuals or businesses to record telephone calls without the consent of everyone involved in the call. These privacy laws apply to both inbound and outbound calls.

Many businesses add a warning at the beginning of phone calls to notify the other parties on the line of the possibility of the call being recorded. Staying on the line after hearing this warning implies consent to being recorded. However, according to several call recording lawsuits, many businesses are recording their customer calls without giving a warning to the other parties on the line.

California’s privacy laws are especially stringent in their attempts to protect the privacy of California citizens. Not notifying all parties that a telephone call is being recorded may be a violation of California wiretapping law, or the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

Violations of these privacy laws may result in fines or settlements of up to millions of dollars. Businesses who violate wiretapping laws in California may be assessed fines of $5,000 per recorded call, or three times the actual amount of damages suffered.

In 2017, Bank of America agreed to pay a $2 million settlement to resolve claims that the financial institution was either taking too long to notify customers that their phone calls to the bank were recorded, or failing to notify them at all.

Who is Affected?

Several companies are being investigated for possibly violating California privacy laws by recording calls without consent. Companies that are involved in call recording lawsuits or investigations include the Southwest Rapid Rewards line (800-445-5764), as well as many other companies, including:

• Swarovski
• Dermalogica
• Mears Transportation Group
• Romano’s Macaroni Grill
• United Airlines Pet Safe (800-575-3335)
• Cannondale Bicycle Corporation
• Czech Airlines

The Southwest Rapids Reward line is a phone line for Southwest Airlines customers who have inquiries related to Southwest’s points and rewards program. Privacy advocates are concerned that calls made to or from this line may be recorded without disclosure to customers.

If you believe you have been the subject of non-consensual phone call recording, you may be eligible to join a call recording investigation or one of many call recording lawsuits. You may want to keep a call log of relevant phone calls and include the date and time of the calls, a summary of the call, whether or not consent was asked for, and whether or not a call recording disclosure was given.