Maryland: Call and Conversation Recording Consent Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered recording

Maryland's rules are in the Maryland Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, Md. Code, Courts & Judicial Proceedings §§ 10-401 through 10-414. Section 10-402(a) makes it unlawful to willfully intercept any wire, oral, or electronic communication, or to willfully disclose or use one you know was unlawfully intercepted. "Intercept" means the aural or other acquisition of a communication's contents through a device (§ 10-401(10)).

Whose consent a participant needs

Maryland requires the consent of every party. Section 10-402(c)(3) makes an interception lawful only "where the person is a party to the communication and where all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent"—and even then, not if the purpose is a criminal or tortious act. Simply being on the call does not let you record it; you need everyone's prior agreement. This is the rule that makes Maryland an "all-party" (often loosely called "two-party") consent state.

Privacy, confidentiality, or secrecy trigger

For in-person speech, the Act protects an "oral communication," defined as "any conversation or words spoken to or by any person in private conversation" (§ 10-401(13)). Maryland courts have read "private conversation" to require a reasonable expectation of privacy, so a face-to-face exchange with no such expectation may fall outside the Act. Telephone and electronic communications are different: they carry no privacy qualifier, so the all-party rule applies to a phone call regardless of whether anyone expected privacy.

Telephone, in-person, and electronic coverage

The all-party rule reaches a telephone call (a "wire communication," § 10-401(18)), an in-person private conversation (an "oral communication," § 10-401(13)), and an electronic communication (§ 10-401(5)). Certain categories sit outside the Act entirely—an electronic communication configured to be readily accessible to the general public, and listed public-safety, radio, marine, amateur, and citizens-band transmissions (§ 10-402(c)(7)).

How consent or notice is given

Consent must come from all parties and must be given before the recording (§ 10-402(c)(3)). The statute does not prescribe a form: no written consent, spoken script, or beep tone is required by the text. What matters is that each participant actually consented in advance. In practice, a clear announcement that lets everyone agree before recording begins is the reliable way to satisfy the rule.

Major participant-facing exceptions

There is no general exception that lets an ordinary participant secretly record to collect evidence. The evidence-gathering interception in § 10-402(c)(2) is available to law enforcement, or to a person acting under their direction—not to a private individual on their own. The remaining exemptions are institutional: communication-provider operations, a governmental emergency communications center (§ 10-402(c)(5)), publicly accessible radio and electronic communications, and various law-enforcement body-camera and body-wire provisions. For a private participant, the operative rule stays all-party consent, subject to the criminal-or-tortious-purpose limit.

Criminal classification and penalty

A violation of § 10-402(a) is a felony. Section 10-402(b) provides that a violator "is subject to imprisonment for not more than 5 years or a fine of not more than $10,000, or both." The felony classification applies whether the violation is an unlawful interception, an unlawful disclosure, or an unlawful use of intercepted contents.

Civil remedy and evidence effect

Section 10-410 gives a person whose communication was unlawfully intercepted, disclosed, or used a civil action to recover actual damages—but not less than liquidated damages of $100 a day for each day of violation or $1,000, whichever is higher—plus punitive damages and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Good-faith reliance on a court order or legislative authorization is a complete defense. On top of that, § 10-405(a) keeps an unlawfully intercepted communication, and any evidence derived from it, out of evidence in Maryland proceedings, with only a narrow exception for certain out-of-state co-conspirator recordings (§ 10-405(b)).

Interstate and federal boundary

Federal law permits one-party recording unless the purpose is criminal or tortious (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)), but Maryland is stricter and requires every party's consent. A call that reaches Maryland can bring the all-party rule into play. Section 10-405(b) allows a recording lawfully made in another state to be used in a Maryland proceeding only in a narrow co-conspirator crime-of-violence situation; otherwise this survey does not decide which state's law governs, and getting everyone's consent is the safe course.

What trips people up

Being on the call is not enough. Unlike one-party states, Maryland makes participant recording lawful only if all parties consented in advance (§ 10-402(c)(3)). A recording you made of your own conversation can still be a felony if the others did not agree.

Phone calls have no privacy loophole. The "private conversation" limit applies to in-person speech (§ 10-401(13)); it does not shield you when recording a telephone call. The all-party rule applies to a phone call regardless of whether the conversation was sensitive or expected to be private.

An illegal recording usually cannot be used—and can cost you. Section 10-405 keeps an unlawful recording out of Maryland proceedings, and § 10-410 lets the person recorded sue for damages (at least $100 a day or $1,000), punitive damages, and attorney's fees, separate from any criminal charge.

Common questions

Can I record my own phone call in Maryland if I do not tell the other person? No. Maryland requires every party's prior consent, so recording a call the other person has not agreed to can be a felony, even though you are on the call.

Does it matter that the conversation was not private? For an in-person conversation it can—"oral communication" covers only a "private conversation." But for a telephone call there is no privacy requirement; the all-party rule applies either way.

What can happen if I record someone without their consent? It can be a felony under § 10-402(b), the recording is generally inadmissible under § 10-405, and the person can sue you under § 10-410 for damages and attorney's fees.

Statutes and sources

• Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-401 — definitions of intercept, oral communication, and wire communication. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=10-401 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-402 — unlawful interception, felony penalty (b), and the all-party participant rule (c)(3). https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=10-402 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-405 — inadmissibility of unlawfully intercepted communications. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=10-405 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 10-410 — civil action, liquidated and punitive damages, fees, and good-faith defense. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=10-410 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) — federal private-participant consent rule. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section2511&num=0&edition=prelim (accessed 2026-07-20)