What states require two-party consent for call recording?

Eleven states currently require all parties on a call to consent before recording takes place: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington. That's actually twelve if you count them out — the number varies slightly depending on how courts have interpreted certain state statutes, so California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington are the most consistently cited two-party (or "all-party") consent states, with Connecticut and Delaware sometimes added depending on the legal context. Federal law under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act only requires one-party consent, but state laws can be stricter, and they often are.

If your business operates in any of these states, or if you're calling customers who are located in these states, you need to disclose that the call is being recorded before it begins. The safest approach is to treat any call where either party might be in a two-party consent state as requiring disclosure — this is what most compliance-minded businesses do. The penalties for violating these laws aren't trivial. California's Invasion of Privacy Act, for example, allows for civil damages and even criminal penalties in serious cases.

For businesses using AI receptionists or automated call handling systems, this matters a great deal. Any system that records inbound or outbound calls needs to play a disclosure before the conversation begins. A well-configured AI receptionist will handle this automatically by opening every call with a statement that the call may be recorded — simple, compliant, and consistent every single time without relying on a human employee to remember.

For businesses ready to stop missing calls, My AI Front Desk offers 24/7 AI receptionist coverage starting at $65/month, with call handling built to support compliant recording disclosures across state lines. Learn more at myaifrontdesk.com.