# Telephone Calls being taped



## mercman (17 Sep 2009)

What is the law in this country if you contact an acquaintance (now an ex), and find that the telephone call was being taped. He denied it immediately then stated that it was the software on his mobile and that he didn't mean to tape me but alleges he  tapes all calls.

Believe me I wasn't very happy at all. He can now take along walk off a short pier. I reckon some kind of pervert does something like that.

I feel like making an official complaint to the Gardai.


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## j26 (17 Sep 2009)

I dug this up here  It doesn't appear to be illegal

You're making me dig for my notes here to se what else could be done 

My first thought is Kennedy v Ireland (phone tapping case) which establishes the right to privacy.  It can also be enforced against a private individual, but you'd be talking about a constitutional case, and loads of barristers etc, so the cost would be horrendous.

Maybe just throw some poo at his door?


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## RIAD_BSC (22 Sep 2009)

It is perfectly legal to tape a telephone call if one of the participants consents to it being taped. It is only illegal to tape a phone call if the person doing the taping is a third party, and the two people engaged in conversation are both unaware it is being taped, and so have obviously not consented (i.e. phone tapping).

Journalists routinely tape potentially contentious telephone calls without telling the other party it is being taped, as a safety measure in case something that was said is denied later on. There is nothing wrong with this.

You ex did nothing wrong, legally-speaking.


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## Slim (22 Sep 2009)

mercman said:


> What is the law in this country if you contact an acquaintance (now an ex), and find that the telephone call was being taped. He denied it immediately then stated that it was the software on his mobile and that he didn't mean to tape me but alleges he tapes all calls.
> 
> Believe me I wasn't very happy at all. He can now take along walk off a short pier. I reckon some kind of pervert does something like that.
> 
> I feel like making an official complaint to the Gardai.


 
We got legal advice on this matter from solicitors. Basically, there is no real offence in actually taping the call, but there would be in using or publishing the transcript or recording.


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## mercman (22 Sep 2009)

RIAD_BSC said:


> You ex did nothing wrong, legally-speaking.



As a point of note the 'ex' referred to is an ex acquiantance. Nothing more or nothing less. 

So you are saying that a telephone conversation in relation to personal finance and tax matters and other personal affairs, without the knowledge of the person being taped is legal. I don't think so and I am awaiting a legal view on this. I do know that Banks, stockbrokers and others are entitled to tape conversations for verification purposes, only when they pre advise a third party first.


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## galway. (22 Sep 2009)

all the above is correct, it is only illegal if these 'taped calls' are used in the public domain, then it swings in your favour and a court case would pend.


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## mercman (22 Sep 2009)

galway. said:


> it is only illegal if these 'taped calls' are used in the public domain,



Then it's too late. Simple as that.


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## galway. (22 Sep 2009)

are they out in the public now?


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## mercman (22 Sep 2009)

Haven't a clue. But there is nothing stopping the person bringing information to my competitors, Bank or Tax man. It really is annoying to have a so called colleague do something like ths to you. Apparently he tapes all his conversations - has little else to do.


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## JoeB (22 Sep 2009)

well... there's a program called Total Recall for 'smart' mobile phones.. it can be set up  to record all calls as standard.. there's usually a beep every few seconds although Total Recall claims to remove the beep. (it doesn't remove the beep correctly on my phone)

There are some situations when recording calls is justified.. mainly when dealing with call centers for banks, mobile phone companies, utility companies.. etc etc, where they say anything on the phone.. and it's often wrong.. companies don't seem to care about this. The only comeback is to have recorded the call... same thing when dealing with builders and tradesmen I suppose.. imagine how many problems we see on these forums everyday could be much clarified if calls were recorded...

It's definitely something to watch out for in the modern world... this technology is becoming more and more widespread...


If you are hugely disadvanted through secret phone recording I'd say something could be done.. but perhaps not..


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## pansyflower (22 Sep 2009)

I take it that when these guys say "calls may be recorded" they are giving you permission to record them.


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## mercman (22 Sep 2009)

Yeah, but if a conversation is been held between two persons and one is recording and the other doesn't know it can be awful upsetting. Especially when the two were meant to be friends.


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## JoeB (22 Sep 2009)

I've just checked the latest version of Total Recall, and it records without any beeps.

Yes, recording phone calls is very very bad... so much is said that the other party pften wouldn't want made public, from comments on peoples behaviour or appearance in work or at parties, to confessions about drug use or infidelity, and then to commercially sensitive  information or other business stuff!

Laws will need to be brought in eventually... but it's a very tricky area to legislate in


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## RIAD_BSC (23 Sep 2009)

mercman said:


> As a point of note the 'ex' referred to is an ex acquiantance. Nothing more or nothing less.
> 
> So you are saying that a telephone conversation in relation to personal finance and tax matters and other personal affairs, without the knowledge of the person being taped is legal.* I don't think* *so and I am awaiting a legal view on this*. I do know that Banks, stockbrokers and others are entitled to tape conversations for verification purposes, only when they pre advise a third party first.


 
I _am_ giving you a legal view. Trust me (or don't if you prefer, and pay for your own lawyer, who will tell you exactly what I'm telling you). As bonkers as it may sound to you, it is not illegal to tape a phone call with someone (if the person doing the taping is one of the two people engaged in the call).

As long as one of the two parties involved in the call knows it is being taped and consents to this (and your ex acquaintance obviously did, as he did the taping himself), there is nothing illegal about it. There is no "third party" involved in this case. It is just you and him. If you called me up on the phone tomorrow and I decided I wanted to tape the call without telling you, there is nothing legally wrong with that. I believe you are mixing up what happened in your case with the illegal act of "phone tapping" (which is where a third party tapes a call, unbeknownst to the two people engaged in the call).

What your acquaintance does with the information is another matter entirely. But the actual act of taping the call is most definitely NOT illegal. Any media lawyer will tell you this, as will any professional journalist with legal training. The practice is endemic in the media world.

I accept it may be upsetting for you, and probably morally wrong for a friend to deceive you like that. But that doesn't make it illegal.


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## Slim (23 Sep 2009)

galway. said:


> all the above is correct, it is only illegal if these 'taped calls' are used in the public domain, then it swings in your favour and a court case would pend.


 
This co-incides with legal advice we got and paid for. Also, as RIAD BSC states:

"It is perfectly legal to tape a telephone call if one of the participants consents to it being taped. It is only illegal to tape a phone call if the person doing the taping is a third party, and the two people engaged in conversation are both unaware it is being taped, and so have obviously not consented (i.e. phone tapping)."

Slim


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## mercman (23 Sep 2009)

RIAD, thank you for that comment. I never doubted you despite what you might think. I find it desperate that somebody that I assumed was a friend chose to tape a telephone call, for absolutely no reason. Personally I have nothing to hide, but imagine trying to live with someone like that. Or to be married to a creep like this. Pretty scary or a form of perversion in my opinion.


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## JoeB (23 Sep 2009)

Well, part of the problem may be that all calls are recorded as standard.. 

On the latest version of the Total Recall software you can include a list of numbers, and choose to only record those numbers, or exclude those numbers.. you can also choose whether or not to record only incoming or outgoing calls for example.. however you cannot use both of the options at the same time...

So people may make a decision to record all calls, rather than specifically choosing to record individual calls... it's harder to record individual calls as you need to go into menus during the call...


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## serotoninsid (23 Sep 2009)

JoeBallantin said:


> I've just checked the latest version of Total Recall, and it records without any beeps.


What _is_ the current version?
Have tried earlier versions of this product and others and all worked but none could remove the beep as they claimed.
BTW, as others have outlined, there are situations where this can be a useful tool although I can appreciate in the case of the OP, its been used unethically.


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## JoeB (23 Sep 2009)

Not sure which version exactly,  perhaps 3.03..

File size of the .sis install file is 249,360 bytes

I got an error when trying to install, so had to un-install the first version and then the latest version installed no problem.. there's new menu options and a different logo. The option on sound quality (high, medium, low etc) is gone, so if you have that option it is the older version..


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