The California Supreme Court has ruled that when an out-of-state business is on the telephone line with a California resident, the business can’t record the call unless it complies with a California privacy law requiring the consent of all parties to the conversation.
In the case, several clients of Salomon Smith Barney filed a complaint alleging employees at the company’s Atlanta, Georgia-based branch violated California law by repeatedly recording telephone conversations with California clients without the clients’ knowledge or consent. The clients charged that this violated California Penal Code section 632, which prohibits any person from recording a telephone conversation without the consent of all parties to the conversation.
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Salomon Smith Barney argued that the case should be dismissed because its employees’ actions were permissible under the privacy law in Georgia, where the employees were located. In particular, Georgia privacy law allows the recording of a telephone conversation when the recording is made with the consent of one party to the conversation.
But the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that out-of-state companies doing business in California must comply with the consent requirements of section 632, in light of California’s important interest in protecting its residents’ privacy. We’ll have more on this case in an upcoming issue of the California Employer Advisor.