Topic 'Re: [General] 911 recording legality' in forum 'Open Forum' - dslreports.com

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 14:21:02 EDT

digimon900 posted : Does not matter what states it crosses through, the law applies to the terminating and the calling ends, not where the network runs in between

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 08:45:07 EDT

battleop posted : “There is no expectation of privacy when calling 911 and the call isn't crossing into another state”

Don’t be so sure about that. There is a really high probably that those calls pass through other states.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 20:47:11 EDT

lawsoncl posted :

said by Anonymous_:

911 is exempt

Maybe. It depends on the laws in that particular state. As I alredy pointed out, for Illinois the law hinges on whether there is an expectation of privacy and there is none when calling 911.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Wed, 27 Dec 2017 11:23:00 EDT

Anonymous_ posted : 911 is exempt

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Mon, 25 Dec 2017 17:36:30 EDT

Well Bonded posted : It depends on the state you live in.

In Florida is it one consent, so if you call 911 knowing they record all calls it is legal to record your call as well.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 19 Dec 2017 08:35:38 EDT

Cthen posted : Ask a lawyer in your state. Not one person knows here or ever will. Any reply to legal questions on this site are only pure assumptions and nothing more. I know I wouldn't want my rear end in hot water with the law due to someones assumption here. ;)

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 21:56:45 EDT

lawsoncl posted :
True, I'm not a lawyer. Recording all calls gets legally complicated because calls may be placed to a state that requires both parties to be notified (just ask Monica Lewinsky about calls between DC and MD). If you scroll up, I already posted a link that explains the law for Illinois.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 20:47:25 EDT

cralt posted :

said by lawsoncl:

Not pointless if you need the recordings in a timely manner. For example, in this case figuring out who called and why could be important. FOIA requests can and usually do take a while.

It may be a better to just post a sign that says ALL phone calls are subject to recording and just record everything. If you have your PBX just watching for '911' then its going to miss people dialing '0' and asking to be transferred or people calling the PD/FD/EMS directly. Heck you could call anyone and they could transfer you to 911.

Anyways OP really should speak to a lawyer that knows the laws in his/her specific state. Especially in the situation that this involves.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 20:43:37 EDT

digimon900 posted : My place is set to record all calls, even 911, I doubt that the system can discriminate against 911 calls and not record them. In PA we have to let the other party know that the call is recorded - if they are in PA also, if not you have to inform them if the state that they are receiving the call in requires this, and this gets messy and tiresome so we just say that we record all calls.

For example:
If I call an out of state number and that number is a Cellphone being used in PA and they receive the call in PA, but the state the number is based in has no requirement you inform the other party you are recording the call there is no issue, unless the individual reveals their location in PA, when the law requires me to tell them I am recording them... Most organizations just tell everyone that calls are recorded to be on the safe side.

A 911 operator is doing a job they where know that they are being recorded. Nobody in a burning house or medical emergency is going to tell them in advance that they too are recording the call its pretty much guaranteed that a recording of the call exists, so an additional one is of little consequence. If the individual making the 911 call releases their own recording then they are doing nothing wrong, since the release of recordings by dispatchers is mainly to protect the identity of and other private personal information given out by the caller, including the fact that they called 911.
Of course there will be cases, where releasing the recording is detrimental to someone or causes danger or harm, and that would most likely be dealt with by criminal laws rather than phone recording legislation.
However if (as in your case) a third party calls 911 from your phone and you release the recording, at the very least they could take a civil case against you, or have you charged with criminal acts if what you did was detrimental to their life or well being, or you used information you overheard for your own gain.

In your case I would just ensure that along with explaining the limited privileges you make it clear calls may be recorded. You can get Vista Print to make stickers that go on each phone, so there is no doubt about you telling them.

There was a famous case in the UK, where an Australian radio DJ played a prank on a hospital nurse caring for prince William's wife. He successfully pretended that he was the queen and the nurse gave out information about how well the princess was doing and other confidential stuff.
When the nurse learned of the prank she committed suicide due to guilt and stress.
The ensuing chaos threw up all kinds of legal and moral arguments about how the DJ had used the information he gained i.e. playing the call recording on the radio as entertainment.
In Australia the law requires all parties to a recorded call to consent during the call. However as the call was to the UK, where no consent is required for call recordings, nobody was sure if he could be criminally liable for damages or action as a result of the nurse's suicide, since he had committed no criminal act in the UK.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 20:40:35 EDT

lawsoncl posted :

said by cralt:

Ya the rules are they have to release recordings of the calls that come in to the 911 center.

Any call that goes in to a 911 center is public record. You can file a FOIA and get the recordings.

Recording them locally seems kinda pointless imo.

Not pointless if you need the recordings in a timely manner. For example, in this case figuring out who called and why could be important. FOIA requests can and usually do take a while.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Thu, 14 Dec 2017 20:31:15 EDT

cralt posted :

said by Anon02793 :

I know there are privacy rules around the release of 911 calls by dispatch centers,

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Wed, 13 Dec 2017 21:15:30 EDT

lawsoncl posted : »www.familylawtopics.com/ ··· ing-law/

I think you're fine recording 911 calls in Illinois. There is no expectation of privacy when calling 911 and the call isn't crossing into another state that may have more restrictive laws. If you really want to cover your legal posterior, you could put a notice on the phones in the public areas stating that 911 calls are automatically recorded.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Wed, 13 Dec 2017 20:01:09 EDT

TheMole posted : 911 calls recorded by the authorities and they are considered public record. You can file a FOIA for that recording.

Given that, I bet you can record the call too.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 12:49:17 EDT

hitachi369 posted :

quote:
In all states except Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Wyoming, 911 transcripts are considered a matter of public record and can be obtained. Some states, however, including Georgia, Maine, Minnesota, Connecticut, North Carolina and South Dakota place conditions on the records that can be obtained and by whom

I would say yes. To help protect yourself either way, just make it part of the terms of use for the phone that call maybe randomly recorded.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 12:23:56 EDT

towerdave posted : Makes sense to record the calls in a case like this. If legal, that is. Sorry I don't have the answer on that part, but thank you for giving some context.

TD

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 12:17:55 EDT

anon posted : The state is Illinois, and the business is a not-for-profit halfway house for single mothers with children. There are several common area phones with limited privileges for residents to use them.

Realistically, the recording would serve only as a hard record of an event like this on the property. We are able to receive texts when 911 calls occur, which is far more important.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 11:32:16 EDT

InternetJeff posted : In which state are you?

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:39:22 EDT

josephf posted : The legality is likely no different than recording non-911 calls.

Re: [General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:05:39 EDT

towerdave posted : I have no idea on the legality of it, but I need to ask the obvious question...Why record 911 calls?

TD

[General] 911 recording legality

Tue, 12 Dec 2017 10:02:20 EDT

anon posted : If anyone knows, what are the legal rules around allowing on premise recording of 911 calls in a business or even residential environment. In this case recording by a PBX either on-site or hosted.

I know there are privacy rules around the release of 911 calls by dispatch centers, but have no clue of the legality of 911 recordings on the company or owner's side of the line.