Florida: Call and Conversation Recording Consent Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered recording

Florida's rule is the Security of Communications Act, Fla. Stat. chapter 934.
Section 934.03(1) makes it an offense to intentionally intercept, disclose, or use
any wire, oral, or electronic communication except as the chapter allows.
"Intercept" means acquiring a communication's contents through a device
(§ 934.02(3)).

The Act reaches a participant who records a call or conversation, not just an
outside interceptor. A participant is lawful only if the all-party-consent
exception applies.

Whose consent a participant needs

Florida requires all-party consent. Section 934.03(2)(d) makes interception
lawful only "when all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent
to such interception." Your own consent as the recording party is not enough —
every party must consent, and "all parties" can be more than two people.

Privacy, confidentiality, or secrecy trigger

The trigger depends on the medium. An oral communication — in-person speech —
is protected only when "uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that such
communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying such
expectation," and it excludes a "public oral communication uttered at a public
meeting" (§ 934.02(2)). A wire communication (telephone audio) carries no such
expectation qualifier and is protected regardless of setting. So a telephone call
is covered even where casual in-person speech in a public place might not be.

Telephone, in-person, and electronic coverage

The all-party rule is the same across media. A "wire communication" is an aural
transfer made "in whole or in part" through carrier wire, cable, or like
facilities (§ 934.02(1)), which reaches landline and cellular telephone calls;
in-person talk is an "oral communication"; and audio carried by an electronic
system is an "electronic communication" (§ 934.02(12)). Stored communications,
tone-only paging, and tracking-device signals are handled separately and are
outside this ordinary audio question.

How consent or notice is given

The statute requires prior consent of all parties but prescribes no particular
form — no specified tone, script, written consent, or duration. Consent must come
before the interception. On a business or service call, a clear opening notice
that the call is recorded, to which a party knowingly stays on the line, is the
usual way consent is shown. A beep tone alone, or a notice given only after
recording has started, should not be assumed to satisfy the all-party requirement
for a private call.

Major participant-facing exceptions

Florida has no general one-party "evidence of a crime" exception for a private
person. Unlike many states, a victim generally may not secretly record a
threatening private call and rely on a self-help carve-out — a point that
repeatedly surprises people. The chapter's exceptions run mainly to communication
common carriers acting in the ordinary course of business and to interceptions
under a court order or the statutory investigative provisions, none of which is
available to an ordinary participant.

Criminal classification and penalty

A violation of § 934.03(1) is a felony of the third degree (§ 934.03(4)(a)),
punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment (§ 775.082(3)(e)) and a fine up to
$5,000 (§ 775.083(1)(c)). A narrow first-offense carve-out lowers the offense
to a first-degree misdemeanor only where it is not for a tortious, illegal, or
commercial-gain purpose and involves specified radio/scanner communications
(§ 934.03(4)(b)); it does not cover secretly recording an ordinary private call or
conversation.

Civil remedy and evidence effect

Chapter 934 gives a strong civil claim. Under § 934.10, a person whose
communication is intercepted, disclosed, or used in violation of the Act may
recover equitable relief; actual damages "but not less than liquidated damages
computed at the rate of $100 a day for each day of violation or $1,000, whichever
is higher"; punitive damages; and a reasonable attorney's fee and costs.

The recording is also generally inadmissible. Section 934.06 bars using an
unlawfully intercepted wire or oral communication, or evidence derived from it,
in any trial, hearing, or proceeding — except in a prosecution for the criminal
interception itself.

Interstate and federal boundary

Federal law is only a floor: under 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) a private party (or a
nonparticipant with one party's consent) may record unless the purpose is a
criminal or tortious act. Florida's all-party rule is stricter, and Florida courts
apply chapter 934 to protect a Florida participant's private communication even
where a one-party state or federal law would allow one-party recording. Because
choice of law for an interstate call is fact-specific, the safe course whenever
Florida may be involved is to get every participant's consent.

What trips people up

There is no self-help "record the threat" exception. Many states let a victim
secretly record a call conveying a threat. Florida does not — recording a private
call without all parties' consent is unlawful even if the other person is
threatening you. Get consent, or involve law enforcement, rather than recording in
secret.

A phone call is protected even when in-person speech would not be. Protection
for in-person "oral communication" turns on a justified expectation of privacy,
but a telephone "wire communication" is covered regardless of setting. Do not
assume a call is fair game just because the talk feels casual.

The civil exposure stands apart from any criminal case. Even with no
prosecution, the recorded person can sue under § 934.10 for the greater of actual
damages or $100 per day / $1,000, plus punitive damages and attorney's fees.

Common questions

Can I record my own phone call if I don't tell the other person? No. Florida
requires every party's prior consent to record a wire communication; a
participant's own consent is not enough (§ 934.03(2)(d)).

Someone is threatening me on the phone — can I secretly record it? Not under a
one-party self-help exception, which Florida does not provide. Consider notifying
law enforcement, who operate under separate authority, rather than recording the
private call yourself.

How much can I be sued for? Under § 934.10, the injured person can recover the
greater of actual damages or liquidated damages of $100 per day or $1,000, plus
punitive damages and attorney's fees.

Statutes and sources

• Fla. Stat. § 934.03 — interception prohibited; all-party prior-consent
  exception (2)(d); third-degree-felony penalty and radio first-offense carve-out.
  http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0934/Sections/0934.03.html (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Fla. Stat. § 934.02 — definitions of oral, wire, and electronic communication.
  http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0934/Sections/0934.02.html (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Fla. Stat. § 934.06 — unlawfully intercepted communications inadmissible.
  http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0934/Sections/0934.06.html (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Fla. Stat. § 934.10 — civil remedies; liquidated damages, punitive damages,
  attorney's fees.
  http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0900-0999/0934/Sections/0934.10.html (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Fla. Stat. § 775.082 — third-degree-felony imprisonment (up to 5 years).
  http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.082.html (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Fla. Stat. § 775.083 — third-degree-felony fine (up to $5,000).
  http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0775/Sections/0775.083.html (accessed 2026-07-20)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) — federal one-party participant-consent rule and its
  criminal/tortious-purpose limit.
  https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section2511&num=0&edition=prelim (accessed 2026-07-20)