The Treo smartphone has as one of its features a voice-recording capability. And, that feature is linked to the phone function so that the Treonaut can directly record a call conducted with the Treo. Now, here in New York State, one party to a phone conversation may lawfully record that conversation without the consent, or knowledge, of the other party or parties to the conversation. Other states, however, prohibit the recording of telephone conversations without the consent of all parties to the conversation. Which rule applies when the parties to a conversation are in states with different requirements?
The California Supreme Court recently held in Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney that if one party to the conversation is in California, then the California rule requiring consent of all parties governs. That case involved a call placed between California and Georgia. Georgia, like New York State, requires the consent of only one party. The people on the Georgia end knew that, and relied on that in deciding to record the conversation from their end. Not good enough, said the California Supreme Court. It concluded that California has a sufficiently strong interest in protecting the privacy of Californians that the correct choice of law to control such conversations was California law.
The next question: what law applies if a party in Georgia calls a California resident's cell phone, having a California area code, but the California resident is in New York State (or other state with a one-party rule) when they take the call?
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