Recruiter's reference
Call recording consent laws, state by state
Thirteen states require everyone on the call to consent before you record. The rest follow a one-party rule. Recruiters call across state lines all day, so the practical answer is usually "disclose and get a yes anyway." Here is the map.
All-party consent states
In these states, every participant must consent before a private conversation is recorded. If you or your candidate is in one of them, disclosure is the legal gate, not just good manners.
One-party consent states
In these states a participant may record their own calls. But the moment the other side of the call is in an all-party state, the stricter rule can apply, which is why disclosing on every call is the only policy that scales.
Calling outside the US?
Recording rules vary widely by country, and privacy regimes like the GDPR add their own consent and data-handling requirements on top. The safe default is the same everywhere: tell the candidate you are recording, get an explicit yes, and keep the recording under your own control.
Last reviewed July 2026. This guide is general information for recruiters, not legal advice. Laws change and individual situations differ; for specific questions, talk to an employment lawyer licensed in the relevant state.