Recording Conversations

Pique318 said:
Would people have such an issue with it if the person was making a shorthand transcript of the conversation?

I'd do it if I thought I was being railroaded, tbh.
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Yes, would have an issue with this. I don't want to have a conversation with someone who writes or records what I say verbatim.

If a stranger in a car stopped their car and asked me for directions but wanted to record me, I would say no as well.

If I worked in a shop and a random person came in looking to record the conversation, I would keep stum too.

I have no problem with minutes of a meeting, etc, where action points or quotes are used.

In my case, got a call that was nothing directly to do with my job, still offered to help but then person trying to play silly beggars. Person was not a reasonable individual and one of those who you could not help, unless you gave them exactly what they wanted, which was not reasonable in the first instance. I have no business relationship with said individual, have never spoken to them in my life before and have no intention of speaking to them again either.
 
I would have thought taking detailed notes of telephone coversations would have been standard practice!

I do it all of the time and it is the only way I can keep track of what people say to me.

I would not see the harm in people recording conversations if they felt it was a handier way than keeping hand written/typed notes. Obviously, I would have an objection if the recordings were played to a third part without my knowledge.
 
I keep notes of most phone calls - not verbatim but that's because I don't have shorthand. If I did I probably would. That said I'm in HR and some people only hear what they want to hear.

I use to be taped by a now former employee (not mine) who taped everyone she rang. We realised when she was able to quote verbatim what we said 3 weeks ago. Someone did ask her if she was recording the converstion but she denied it.

Sure she wasn't well in the head (as My Dad use to say) so I continued to take her calls like other managers did. I did have a note taker who noted what I said while I noted what she said. It was all typed up immediatley afterwards and kept in safe place until she went away.
 
JoeBallantin said:
I don't think it'd be legal for a journalist, unless he's doing it in a private capacity.. but if he's doing it for his job he must inform the other party......

Companies fall under the Data Protection Act, which doesn't apply to individuals.. (but it should apply to journalists, who I don't think can record calls without permission, or without 'implied permission' which would be if a recorded message said 'calls will be recorded', and the person stayed on the line anyway)

Cheers so
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Wrong. It is 100% legal for anyone - journalist, private individual, company, absolutely anybody - to record, or ask someone else to record, one of their own telephone conversations without telling the other party. Only the taping of third-party conversations, without permission, is illegal.
 
PadriagB's link to the the Data Protection requirements only applies to companies... not to individuals... so private individuals can record away to their hearts content, and it would be perfectly legal, even without asking for, or receiving consent..

If the Data Protection laws applied to individuals then you could request copies of hand written phone and address books, or copies of wedding photos and videos , etc etc.. and it would quickly descend into chaos..


So to be clear, individuals can record calls legally, no problem, without telling the other party, as long as the individual is a party to the call...
 
RIAD_BSC said:
Wrong. It is 100% legal for anyone - journalist, private individual, company, absolutely anybody - to record, or ask someone else to record, one of their own telephone conversations without telling the other party. Only the taping of third-party conversations, without permission, is illegal.
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Totally wrong... no-one should rely on this.

Here's a link to the Data Protection website..
[broken link removed]
and it clearly states that permission must be sought, by companies only !!, not individuals!


That Act covers virtually all private and public companies, with no exceptions as far as I know, except possibly the Guards, and maybe journalists, but I would have thought that journalists are covered, and can't record without consent...
 
So is it that an individual can record a person from a company without telling them, but a company can't record an individual without telling them.

Has to be something wrong with that.
 
MandaC said:
So is it that an individual can record a person from a company without telling them, but a company can't record an individual without telling them.

Has to be something wrong with that.
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But whats the issue? You were dealing with a client in a professional capacity, why would you have an issue with it being taped.

I would have more of a problem if a personal chit chat was being recorded. In a professional converstaion I would hope i am just that, professional at all times. So recording it wouldn't be an issue.It is just a log of what was said.
 
Yes, I believe it is like that.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it... in my opinion. The individual can't just publish the recording.. if they did so they may be in trouble, but I'm not sure. Michael Ryan (edited: Michael O' Leary) for example routinely publishes letters he receives, and I doubt he has express permission to do this, but he does it anyway, so that would seem to be legal.

The Data Protection laws prevents companies from compiling large databases with lots of data on individuals and then using the info for nefarious puposes, or even just for marketing purposes. The other reason might be the difficulty of enforcing rules on private individuals, ..
 
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DavyJones said:
But whats the issue? You were dealing with a client in a professional capacity, why would you have an issue with it being taped.

I would have more of a problem if a personal chit chat was being recorded. In a professional converstaion I would hope i am just that, professional at all times. So recording it wouldn't be an issue.It is just a log of what was said.
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Maybe the person just annoyed me. Bully looking for own way and getting abusive when not entertained.

The issue I have is that they did not tell me they were recording it, so courtesy in the first instance. I caught them out about the recording because they tripped themselves up. A liar needs a good memory.

Secondly, they did not tell me they had used vile language (stream of expletives) to another member of staff less than 15 minutes earlier and lied about what was said in that conversation.

Thirdly, they lied about the nature of their call.

I am professional at all times, but expect the same back.

I hate liars and don' t want to deal with people who lie to try to get other people into trouble.


Am actually going to ring Data Protection tomorrow. Not interested in customer now, but curious about the correct position. Will update with what they say.
 
MandaC said:
Maybe the person just annoyed me. Bully looking for own way and getting abusive when not entertained.

The issue I have is that they did not tell me they were recording it, so courtesy in the first instance. I caught them out about the recording because they tripped themselves up. A liar needs a good memory.

Secondly, they did not tell me they had used vile language (stream of expletives) to another member of staff less than 15 minutes earlier and lied about what was said in that conversation.

Thirdly, they lied about the nature of their call.

I am professional at all times, but expect the same back.

I hate liars and don' t want to deal with people who lie to try to get other people into trouble.


Am actually going to ring Data Protection tomorrow. Not interested in customer now, but curious about the correct position. Will update with what they say.
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I understand. To be honest I'd probably feel the exact same way.
 
Here's some info...

Section 98 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983 is what makes phone tapping illegal... but an intercept under that section is defined as 'listening to or recording', and so a party to a call clearly cannot intercept their own call, unless someone alleges it is also illegal to listen to your own calls!

('intercept' actually has a more complex definition but that's the gist of it.. also there may be various amendments and updates to the main Act, I'm not a solicitor...)

See statutebook.ie for Acts etc...


Here's another relevant link
http://www.tjmcintyre.com/2007/12/admissibility-of-recorded-telephone.html
 
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