What Are The Legal Ramifications Of Being Recorded On A Call Center Call

Is it legal to record personal calls in India?

Recorded conversations are treated in different ways by the law depending on how the recording is obtained. Tape recordings of conversations have repeatedly been held to be admissible as evidence by courts. However, this does not automatically make telephone tapping and the recording of telephonic conversations legal.Telephone tapping is, of course, subject to its own laws:Section 5(2) of the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, which grants the Government the power to order the interception of messages;Rule 419A of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951, which lays down the procedural requirements which must be followed for telephone tapping to be legal;Section 69 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deals with the power to issue directions for interception or monitoring or decryption of any information through any computer resource;Information Technology (Directions for Interception or Monitoring or Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009.Under these laws, the tapping of telephones by third parties is generally illegal, unless the procedures mandated by law are followed. Pertinently, it is possible to interpret the law to mean that tapping would be illegal even is the person whose telephone is tapped consents to the tapping.Further, even in the case of 'consensual tapping' — which is, in all probability, illegal — privacy implications may arise. This is because when a telephone is tapped, the conversations of the person whose telephone is tapped with other people would be recorded, and those other people would presumably not have given their consent to being recorded.If, however, the tapping of a telephone was legal, privacy implications giving rise to liability would not be an issue.You can get more information from the source article: The Legality of Recording Telephonic Conversations

Is it illegal to record a conversation with someone without them knowing?

Here is what I discovered through Google since I wanted to know as well..."Federal law permits recording telephone calls and in-person conversations with the consent of at least one of the parties. See 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d). This is called a "one-party consent" law. Under a one-party consent law, you can record a phone call or conversation so long as you are a party to the conversation."So when you call customer service for one of your professional services where they tell you that you're going to be recorded for "quality assurance purposes," you can say "no" then by law they would not be able to record the conversation.Edit: 9/20/16“Can you record a phone call or conversation when you do not have consent from one of the parties?Regardless of whether state or federal law governs the situation, it is almost always illegal to record a phone call or private conversation to which you are not a party, do not have consent from at least one party, and could not naturally overhear.In addition, federal and many state laws do not permit you to surreptitiously place a bug or recording device on a person or telephone, in a home, office or restaurant to secretly record a conversation between two people who have not consented.”Source: http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/...

Is recording calls illegal in India?

Yes, it is illegal in India as it is a violation to privacy of the other person, but it is exempted under the certain unavoidable situation.Anyhow, such recordings are accepted in the court of law as evidence. Regarding that, it is better to discuss with a legal consultant. For that one just need to dial +91-9811782573 (you do not need to record this call) or send an email requesting them to call back.Now, let us see, what the law specifically says about recording a call:As per sec. 5(2) of the Indian Telegraphic Act 1885, The Central and State Governments have the right to tap phones. It means, if any government departments like police or the Income Tax Department feel that there is a violation of law, or a government or law proceedings need to record a conversation secretly for the sake of the public security and state, they can record the call.It is actually a violation of Art. 21, i.e. personal liberty. The Supreme Court ruled that right to privacy is an integral part of the fundamental right to life enshrined under Art. 21 of the Constitution and such recording of the personal call is “serious invasion of an individual’s privacy”.In several cases, the recorded calls were admitted as useful evidence. For example, in the case of S. Pratap Singh v. State of Punjab, the recorded telephonic conversation between the Chief Minister’s wife and a doctor was admitted as evidence.This case changed the way the court considered the call recordings as evidence.But what if you find out that your conversation is recorded and you apprehend to cause or it is causing harm to your reputation, security or privacy, you can opt for the following remedies:You can contact the Human rights Commission, as your Fundamental Right is infringed.You can file an FIR against the person you apprehend to cause or causing suchIf any officer who has recorded the call under the instructions from the Central or State Government, but discloses it to someone to whom it was not supposed to be disclosed, the aggrieved person can sue the accused under Sec. 26(b) of the Indian Telegraphic Act.Therefore, recording and production of such calls are subject to the condition, and requirement. Anyhow, even if the record fails to have a value, do not need to worry that you’ll be penalized.If you do not misuse such recording, you’ll not face any consequence.

Is call recording without informing the participant legal in India? Can the recording be used as evidence in a court of law?

Thanks for request.There are two separate parts to this Question.Part 1: Validity of Call recording without informing the ParticipantRecording of conversations depends upon fact to fact basis, on the nature of their recording method.Tape recordings have been time and again held valid by the Courts in India, but this does not automatically makes tape recordings as valid.Tape recordings have been held valid when mandated by government or when procedure established by law have been duly followed. In this case, Indian Telegraph act, IT act and Art. 21 is the procedure established by law.In nutshell, Statutory laws are not very clear as to when telephonic conversation may be recorded.If, the telephonic conversation is recorded by a third party without consent of participants. It is illegal, as it infringes Right to privacy. ( PUCL v. Union of India, 1997, AIR1997SC568 in this regard said that telephonic conversations are an important part of a person's private life, and people do have a right to hold private conversations in the privacy of their homes or offices.)Now, if telephonic conversation is recorded with the consent of both the parties, either by third person or by the participants, it is legal as it becomes consensual. (Note: here it is only legal, for admissibility more is required to be done )Further, if recorded by one participant, or by third person by consent of one participant, then there is nothing in law that prohibits it. Therefore, it is also legal, but for admissibility you have to prove its authenticity.Part 2: Using as evidenceYou have to get the tapes authenticated by the laps for the originality of the tapesyou have to prove its relevancy.if court deems fit for the case to consider the tapes, voila it becomes an evidence.Thanks.