Sage Datko  |  July 14, 2020

Category: Legal News

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call center workers at laptops

Many companies record customer service calls, but not all of them do it legally. The California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) was passed specifically to protect the privacy of individuals on recorded calls and has resulted in a number of different lawsuits against companies who have violated the law’s provisions.

According to the National Law Review, in August 2019, Tiger Natural Gas, Inc. agreed to pay $3.7 million to plaintiffs who claimed they were recorded without consent. More than 27,000 customers may have been recorded without being told by either Tiger or its third-party telemarketing division. While the calls were handled by a third-party, the responsibility still falls to Tiger as the advertiser.

Another company that agreed to resolve a California customer service call lawsuit is AeroMexico, paying a $3.3 million settlement earmarked for California residents who received one or more calls from AeroMexico’s toll-free numbers between June 2016 and July 2017.

Brands are responsible for their compliance with privacy laws, and with many brands stretching across the globe, these companies need to be aware of individual states’ regulations and laws. No companies are immune to this law, and from Amazon to airlines, many have faced call recording lawsuits.

What Are Your Rights With Customer Service Call Recording?

A number of states have call recording laws, but California has some of the strongest consumer privacy laws in the country. In the state, it is illegal to record a conversation if the party being recorded “has an objectively reasonable expectation that no one is listening”, according to the Digital Media Law Project (DMLP). The call recording law is a “two-party consent” law, meaning that all parties to a conversation must consent to its being recorded.

There are some exceptions to CIPA’s call recording regulations which can be found on California’s Legislative Information site. First of all, many law enforcement officials such as police officers, Highway Patrol, and the office of the Attorney General, may legally record any conversation so long as they are acting within the scope of their authority. Exceptions may also be made for victims of domestic abuse who record their abusers. It’s worth noting that, according to Plaintiff Magazine, landlines may not be covered by CIPA either.

According to a ruling from the California State Supreme Court in 2019, unlawful call recordings may also be submitted as evidence in criminal proceedings, if the information contained in the recordings is relevant to the case. However, although it is permissible for these illegally-collected recordings to be used in legal cases, victims whose privacy was violated by these recordings are still allowed to sue for damages. Additionally, unlawful call recordings can only be submitted as evidence in criminal cases, not in civil cases.

In addition to traditional customer service call recordings conducted by call centers, Uber has announced plans to potentially record audio during rides in order to provide a higher level of customer service and safety to drivers and passengers. Under the new Uber feature, users will be able to opt-in to activating call recordings during rides. However, drivers and passengers will not be able to listen back to these recordings, which are sent directly to Uber.

Privacy advocates have raised concerns about the potential update, including whether passengers who have been drinking are able to consent to be recorded, or what the legal aspects of call recording for pooled Uber rides might be. Additionally, for groups of passengers, the passenger who has the Uber account and requested the ride may be able to directly consent to be recorded, but the other passengers in their group may not have.

Due to the coronavirus, concerns have also been raised about the possibility of employers or workers recording Zoom calls, or students or teachers recording online lectures without the knowledge or consent of all participants.

Recording Notification

Two-party consent laws require all parties of a conversation to consent, and in this case, that means the customer service employee and the consumer. According to data management company NICE, most customer service employees know the law, know they are being recorded, and have signed an agreement, but here are several different ways that you as a customer may be notified when on a recorded call.

close up of male call center workerThe most common notification is a recording that most Americans have probably heard: “This call may be monitored or recorded for quality and training purposes.” This information must be played at the beginning of a recorded call, not after the conversation has already been had.

These warnings were deemed to be sufficient under California law in 2006 when the state’s Supreme Court set the precedent that explicit consent is not needed from all parties as long as they are informed of the recording. 

Execvision, a business insight firm, reports that California law may also allow call recording alerts in the form of a faint tone or beep, although they must be audible to all parties. NICE also reports that a customer may be notified that their conversation is being recorded when “beep tones” are played on the call. According to NICE, these tones must be a specific frequency and duration and must play every 12 to 15 seconds during the recorded call.

The question stands on whether or not accidental recording violates the law.

One of the most difficult parts of navigating your rights around recorded customer service calls is knowing whether or not you actually have been recorded, especially if you called into the company. According to Plaintiff Magazine, many customers don’t know they have been recorded until the recording is discovered as a part of a separate lawsuit. Because of this, it’s important to be aware of your rights when on a customer service call.

If you believe that your call was recorded in violation of California law, you may have a legal claim. The California Invasion of Privacy Act allows consumers to collect up to $5,000 or three times whatever actual damages occurred as a result of illegal call recording. Even if full damages are not recovered in a call recording class action lawsuit, plaintiffs may reach settlements with businesses – and receive compensation for themselves and others who were affected.

Attorneys are investigating a variety of companies for potential violations of California call recording laws, including Dermalogica, Google, Swarovski, Drs. Foster & Smith, Mears Transportation Group, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Southwest Rapid Rewards, United Airlines, Pet Safe, Cannondale Bicycle Corporation, and Czech Airlines. A qualified legal professional can help you seek compensation against these or other businesses if they have violated call recording laws.

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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