Call and Conversation Recording Consent Requirements in New York

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered recording

New York's rule lives in Penal Law article 250 ("Offenses Against the Right to Privacy"). Section 250.05 makes a person guilty of eavesdropping when he "unlawfully engages in wiretapping, mechanical overhearing of a conversation, or intercepting or accessing of an electronic communication."

The real work is done by the definitions in § 250.00. Each one reaches only a person who is not a party to the communication — so an ordinary participant recording their own call or conversation is outside the crime entirely.

Whose consent a participant needs

New York is a one-party-consent state, structured as a participant exemption. "Wiretapping" is overhearing or recording a call "by a person other than a sender or receiver thereof, without the consent of either the sender or receiver" (§ 250.00(1)). "Mechanical overhearing of a conversation" is recording a conversation "without the consent of at least one party thereto, by a person not present thereat" (§ 250.00(2)).

Because a participant is a sender or receiver, and is present, recording your own call or conversation is not eavesdropping. One party's consent likewise lets a nonparticipant record.

Privacy, confidentiality, or secrecy trigger

New York does not condition the crime on a "confidential" or "private" quality of the communication or on a reasonable expectation of privacy. The dividing line is participation and consent: a communication is protected against a non-party who lacks any party's consent, whatever the setting. The built-in exception is for a party or a party's consent, not for a public-versus-private classification of the talk.

Telephone, in-person, and electronic coverage

The participant exemption is the same across media. A "telephonic communication" is an aural transfer through wire, cable, or like facilities (§ 250.00(3)), reaching landline and cellular calls (the wiretapping branch); an in-person "conversation or discussion" falls under mechanical overhearing; and "intercepting or accessing of an electronic communication" covers electronic messages, excepting the sender's or intended receiver's own access (§ 250.00(6)). Tone-only paging, tracking-device signals, and communications the sender made readily accessible to the public are excluded.

How consent or notice is given

The statute prescribes no form of consent or notice. A participant needs none — being a sender/receiver or a present party puts the recording outside the eavesdropping definitions. A nonparticipant needs the consent of a sender or receiver (for a call) or of at least one party (for a conversation), but the statute does not say how consent is expressed. There is no announcement or beep-tone requirement in New York law.

Major participant-facing exceptions

The participant/one-party structure is itself the ordinary-person allowance, so New York does not add a separate self-help "evidence of a crime" recording exception — and none is needed, because a participant already may record. "Unlawfully" means not authorized under Criminal Procedure Law article 700 or 705 (§ 250.00(8)), so judicially warranted interceptions are outside the crime, as are a telephone corporation's normal operations. Court-ordered and law-enforcement interceptions are not available to an ordinary participant.

Criminal classification and penalty

Eavesdropping under § 250.05 is a class E felony — New York's lowest felony class. Under Penal Law § 70.00(2)(e), a class E felony carries an indeterminate prison term with a maximum the court fixes "not to exceed four years" (a shorter definite sentence, probation, or a conditional discharge is also possible). A fine may be imposed up to the higher of $5,000 or double the defendant's gain from the crime (§ 80.00(1)).

Civil remedy and evidence effect

On evidence, CPLR 4506 bars the contents of any communication obtained "by conduct constituting the crime of eavesdropping, as defined by section 250.05," or evidence derived from it, from being received in any trial, hearing, or proceeding — except against a person who committed the eavesdropping — and lets an aggrieved party move to suppress it in a civil case.

On civil damages, New York's eavesdropping statute provides no dedicated private cause of action for money damages, unlike the all-party states. A lawful participant recording is admissible; the statutory consequences of unlawful eavesdropping are criminal liability plus the CPLR 4506 evidence bar.

Interstate and federal boundary

Federal law permits a private party, or a nonparticipant with one party's consent, to record unless the purpose is a criminal or tortious act (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)). New York's one-party rule aligns with that floor, so for a purely New York call the two agree. If another participant is in an all-party-consent state, that stricter rule may apply, and no row here decides which state's law governs an interstate call — get every participant's consent when jurisdictions may differ.

What trips people up

The rule is about being a party, not about privacy. New York does not ask whether the conversation was "confidential." A participant may record even a sensitive private call; a non-party may not record it without some party's consent, even in a fairly public setting.

Eavesdropping is a felony, not a violation. Unlawful eavesdropping by a non-party is a class E felony carrying up to four years in prison — a serious charge, even though a participant recording is not a crime at all.

A lawful recording is usable; an unlawful one is not. CPLR 4506 excludes a communication obtained by criminal eavesdropping from evidence, but a participant's own lawful recording is admissible and is not barred by that rule.

Common questions

Do I have to tell the other person I'm recording our call? No. As a sender/receiver you are outside the wiretapping definition and need no consent from or notice to the other party.

Can a friend who is not on the call record it for me? Yes, if a party (you) consents. A nonparticipant may record a call with a sender's or receiver's consent, or a conversation with at least one party's consent.

Can I sue someone who secretly recorded me in New York? New York's eavesdropping statute has no built-in money-damages remedy; the statutory consequences are criminal prosecution and suppression of the recording under CPLR 4506. Any civil claim would rest on other legal theories.

Statutes and sources

• N.Y. Penal Law § 250.00 — definitions: wiretapping, mechanical overhearing, telephonic and electronic communication, "unlawfully." https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/250.00 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• N.Y. Penal Law § 250.05 — eavesdropping is a class E felony. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/250.05 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• N.Y. Penal Law § 70.00 — class E felony maximum term (not to exceed four years). https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/70.00 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• N.Y. Penal Law § 80.00 — felony fine (higher of $5,000 or double the gain). https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/PEN/80.00 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 4506 — eavesdropping evidence inadmissible; civil suppression motion. https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CVP/4506 (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)