Is it legal to record a phone call in the UK or EU?

It depends on who is recording, why, and what happens to the recording afterwards. In the UK and across the EU, two sets of rules apply: the criminal law on intercepting communications, and data protection law, which covers any recording that identifies a person. A private individual who records their own personal call sits in a different position from a business that records calls for its own purposes. This page is general information, not legal advice, and the position in each member state differs.

Data protection law has an exemption for personal use

Under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, the regulation does not apply to processing of personal data "by a natural person in the course of a purely personal or household activity." ¹ An individual who records a call for personal use is often within that exemption. A business is not, because it records calls for its own purposes.

The exemption is narrow. It covers purely personal or household use, so publishing a recording, or using it for work, can take it outside. The GDPR also still applies to businesses that record calls. Processing personal data is lawful only if and to the extent that one of the listed conditions applies, and consent is one of them. ² A business recording a call needs one of those conditions, and it must say what it is doing.

Criminal law on recording is a separate question in each country

Member states have their own criminal rules on recording, and they are not the same. Germany's Criminal Code, in Section 201(1), makes it an offence, punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine, to record without authorisation another person's spoken word that is not spoken publicly. ³ Germany is one example. This page does not survey the criminal rule in each EU member state, so check the rule where each participant is.

The UK interception offence targets interception in transmission

In the UK, the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 makes it an offence to intentionally intercept a communication in the course of its transmission, without lawful authority. ⁴ The offence is written around interception during transmission. It does not address a participant who records their own call directly, so a recording made by one of the people on the call is not automatically caught by the same words. That is a reading of the statute, not a court ruling on every case, and it is why local legal advice matters before you record a call that matters.

For a business, the data protection rules are the more likely problem. The UK regulator's guidance says an organisation must include its lawful basis and its purposes for using personal information in its privacy information. ⁵ A company that records calls needs to say why it records them, how long it keeps them, and on what legal basis.

Built-in call recording is not offered everywhere in Europe

Platform tools may not be available in every country. Apple lists 19 countries and regions where call recording on iPhone is not currently available, and the list includes the European Union. ⁶ A user in the EU who wants to record a call therefore cannot rely on the built-in iPhone feature, and may need to use a third-party tool, which brings its own privacy questions.

What to do before recording a call in the UK or EU

1. Decide whether the recording is personal or business. A personal recording is closer to the household exemption. A business recording needs a lawful basis and a privacy notice.
2. Tell every participant that the call is being recorded, before the recording starts, and record their agreement where you can.
3. Stop if anyone objects, and do not record a call that you would not want to explain.
4. Limit what you keep and who sees it. Keeping a recording longer, or sharing it, moves you further from the personal exemption.
5. Check the local criminal rule in the country where each participant is, and take advice for anything that matters.

The same consent question arises for calls that cross a state line in the United States, which is covered in our question on which law applies to a call across state lines. For the US state rules, see which states require all-party consent. Whether a recording of a voice is personal data is a separate question, covered in our question on voice recordings as personal data under the GDPR. For the full picture, see the guide to recording consent laws and our overview of voice privacy and security.