South Carolina: Call and Conversation Recording Consent Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered recording

South Carolina's recording rules sit in the wiretap chapter of the 2002 South Carolina Homeland Security Act, S.C. Code Ann. §§ 17-30-10 to -145, with the defined terms in § 17-30-15. Section 17-30-20 makes it a felony to "intentionally intercept ... any wire, oral, or electronic communication," and then the chapter carves out exceptions. The one that matters for everyday recording is § 17-30-30(C).

Whose consent a participant needs

South Carolina requires only one party's consent. It is lawful for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a communication "where the person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties ... has given prior consent to the interception" (§ 17-30-30(C)). Because you are a party to any call or conversation you take part in, recording it is not unlawful, and one other participant's consent is enough to cover a recording made by someone else. Notably, South Carolina's participant exemption—unlike the parallel federal rule—does not carve out recordings made for a criminal or tortious purpose, though other state provisions and federal law can still reach such conduct.

Privacy, confidentiality, or secrecy trigger

Privacy matters for in-person talk but not for phone calls. An "oral communication"—the category covering a face-to-face conversation—is defined as speech "uttered by a person exhibiting an expectation that the communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying the expectation," and it expressly excludes "any public oral communication uttered at a public meeting" (§ 17-30-15(2)). A telephone call, by contrast, is a "wire communication," defined without any privacy qualifier, so it is covered whatever the setting. The one-party rule resolves who may record in either case.

Telephone, in-person, and electronic coverage

The one-party rule reaches wire (telephone), oral (in-person), and electronic communications alike (§§ 17-30-20, 17-30-30). The practical difference is the privacy trigger: a phone call is covered outright, while an in-person conversation is covered only when the speaker had a justified expectation of privacy and was not speaking at a public meeting (§ 17-30-15(2)). Electronic communications configured to be readily accessible to the general public, and the listed radio transmissions, are separately exempt from the offense (§ 17-30-35).

Criminal classification and penalty

Unlawful interception is a felony in South Carolina (§ 17-30-20). Someone who violates §§ 17-30-20 through 17-30-45 "must be imprisoned not more than five years or fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both" (§ 17-30-50(A)). A narrow group of violations involving readily accessible communications is only a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year or $1,000 (§ 17-30-50(B)). None of this touches a lawful participant recording, which is not an offense at all.

Civil remedy and evidence effect

South Carolina backs its wiretap law with a strong civil remedy. A person whose communication is intercepted, disclosed, or used in violation of the chapter may recover actual damages "but not less than liquidated damages computed at the rate of five hundred dollars a day for each day of violation or twenty-five thousand dollars, whichever is greater," plus punitive damages and reasonable attorney's fees (§ 17-30-135). The suit must be filed within five years of a reasonable opportunity to discover the violation, and good-faith reliance on a court order is a complete defense. On the evidence side, an intercepted communication and any evidence derived from it "may [not] be received in evidence" in any South Carolina proceeding (§ 17-30-65(A)).

What trips people up

Recording your own call is fine; recording other people's is a felony. The line is party status and consent. If you are on the call or conversation, or one participant agreed, you are inside the § 17-30-30(C) exemption. Record a communication you are not part of, without any party's consent, and you face a felony—up to five years (§§ 17-30-20, 17-30-50).

The state exemption has no "bad purpose" clause, but that is not a green light. South Carolina's participant exemption (§ 17-30-30(C)) omits the criminal-or-tortious-purpose exception found in the federal statute. Federal law and other South Carolina offenses can still apply to a recording made to commit a crime, so a bad-purpose recording is not safe just because the state exemption is worded broadly.

The civil price is high. A person recorded in violation of the chapter can recover at least $25,000—or $500 for every day of violation, whichever is greater—plus punitive damages and attorney's fees (§ 17-30-135). That is on top of any criminal case, and the recording can also be excluded from evidence (§ 17-30-65).

Common questions

Do I have to tell the other person I am recording our South Carolina phone call? No. As a party to the call you may record it without announcing it or getting anyone's permission, because your own recording is not an unlawful interception.

Is recording an in-person conversation the same as recording a phone call here? Almost. A phone call is always covered, but an in-person conversation counts as a protected "oral communication" only when the speaker had a justified expectation of privacy and was not speaking at a public meeting (§ 17-30-15(2)). The one-party rule applies in both situations.

What can happen to someone who records a call they are not part of? They can be prosecuted for a felony carrying up to five years, sued for at least $25,000 or $500 a day plus punitive damages and attorney's fees (§ 17-30-135), and the recording can be kept out of evidence (§ 17-30-65).

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code Ann. § 17-30-20 — prohibited acts; unlawful interception is a felony. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c030.php (accessed 2026-07-20)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 17-30-30 — participant/one-party exception (subsection (C)). https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c030.php (accessed 2026-07-20)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 17-30-15 — definitions of "oral communication" (privacy trigger) and "wire communication." https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c030.php (accessed 2026-07-20)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 17-30-50 — penalty: up to five years or $5,000. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c030.php (accessed 2026-07-20)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 17-30-65 — exclusion of intercepted communications from evidence. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c030.php (accessed 2026-07-20)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 17-30-135 — civil action: liquidated and punitive damages, attorney's fees, five-year limit. https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t17c030.php (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)