In short
Often, yes, but it depends on three things: where everyone in the meeting is, whether they know and agree, and what rules your organisation or client has set. In some places a person taking part in a conversation may record it without telling anyone.
In others, everyone has to agree, and recording without that agreement can be a criminal offence.
There are four separate layers to check, and passing one does not mean you pass the others: recording law, data-protection law, the rules of the platform, and the rules of your employer or client. This guide goes through each in turn, then covers what happens when people are in different places. It ends with the habit that satisfies most of them at once: telling people, at the start, that you are recording.
The short answer by layer
| Layer | What it asks | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Recording law | Whether one participant's consent is enough, or everyone's is needed | Wiretap and eavesdropping statutes, criminal codes |
| Data protection | Whether you have a lawful basis, have told people, and keep the data only as long as needed | GDPR, UK GDPR, PIPEDA and similar laws |
| Platform rules | Whether the meeting app's own recorder may be used | Zoom, Teams or Meet settings, set by the host or administrator |
| Organisational rules | Whether your employer or client allows recording at all, and how | Policies, contracts, professional rules |
Layer 1: recording law
Most recording laws fall into one of two groups.
One-party consent. A person who takes part in a conversation may record it, because their own consent is the one that counts. US federal law works this way. Under 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d), it is not unlawful for a person who is a party to a communication to record it, unless they do so to commit a crime or a tort. Canada's Criminal Code takes a similar approach: section 184(2)(a) exempts a person who has the consent of the originator or the intended recipient of a private communication. Recording conversations in Canada covers the rest of the Canadian picture.
All-party consent. Everyone taking part must agree, or at least know. California's Penal Code section 632 makes it an offence to record a confidential communication "without the consent of all parties". Recording calls in California covers that rule in detail. Several other US states have similar rules, each worded differently. The state-by-state detail, with statutes, is in one-party and two-party consent states.
Outside the US, many countries protect the spoken word more strictly. Germany's criminal code, section 201, makes it an offence to record another person's non-publicly spoken words without authorisation, which is why recording calls in Germany works on the basis that everyone agrees.
Three details matter more than the label:
- "Confidential" or "private" conversations. Many all-party laws apply only where someone could reasonably expect the conversation not to be recorded. A public talk is treated differently from a one-to-one call. Where exactly the line falls is for the courts in each place.
- Phone calls and in-person conversations can differ. Some states apply one rule to calls and another to conversations in a room.
- Knowing is not always the same as agreeing. Some laws turn on whether the recording was secret; others require agreement. Telling people and carrying on when nobody objects is how many organisations handle both, but it is not a guarantee.
Layer 2: data-protection law
Even where recording is allowed, a recording of people's voices is personal data, and so is the transcript and any summary. In the EU and UK, the GDPR and UK GDPR apply to recordings made for work. That means a lawful basis, telling people at the time, keeping the recording no longer than you need it, and being able to answer a request for a copy or for deletion.
This layer is separate from recording law. You can be allowed to record under a one-party rule and still owe people a notice under data-protection law. Recording meetings under GDPR goes through it step by step; for Britain specifically, see recording calls under UK law.
Layer 3: the platform's rules
Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet each decide who may use their own recorder: usually the host, sometimes anyone the host allows, sometimes nobody unless an administrator has turned it on. When their recorder runs, the app tells the other participants.
Those settings govern the app's recorder, not the law. Having the button does not make a recording lawful, and not having it does not make another recorder unlawful. Recording a Zoom call when you are not the host explains that distinction in detail.
Layer 4: your employer's or client's rules
Many organisations have a policy on recording meetings, and many client contracts limit what may be recorded or which vendors may handle the client's information. These are not law, but breaking them can cost you a job or a client. If the question is the other way round, can my employer record meetings? covers what an employer may record and what it must tell you. Check before you start recording as a habit, not after. If your team has no policy, writing a meeting recording policy sets out what one should cover.
When people are in different places
A video call can have participants in three countries and five states. Which law applies is often not clear, and more than one can apply at once.
One well-known example: in Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006), the California Supreme Court held that California's all-party rule applied to calls recorded in Georgia, a one-party state, when the other person was in California. Courts elsewhere may take other views, but the case shows why "it is legal where I am" is not a complete answer.
The working rule most guidance lands on: follow the strictest rule that could apply to anyone in the meeting. If one participant is in an all-party state or a country like Germany, treat the whole meeting as needing everyone's agreement.
Guides by country and state
Each of these sets out the recording rule and the data-protection rules for one place, with the statutes and regulators' guidance linked:
- Europe: the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, with GDPR across all of them.
- The Americas: Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
- US states: California, Florida, Illinois, New York and Texas.
- Asia-Pacific: India, Singapore, Japan and Australia.
The habit that covers most of it
Almost every layer above is satisfied, or helped, by the same thing: telling everyone at the start that you are recording, why, and what happens to the recording, and giving them a real chance to say no.
- It gives you the consent or knowledge that all-party laws ask for.
- It is the moment you give the notice data-protection law asks for.
- It is usually what an organisation's policy asks for anyway.
Say it out loud at the start, and put it in the invitation for scheduled meetings. If someone objects, stop or do not start. How to ask for consent to record has the words to use.
How Notey fits into this
Notey records your microphone and the sound your Mac plays as two separate tracks. Nothing joins the call, so the other participants see no bot and no recording notice from their meeting app. That is the reason the habit above matters more with a tool like this, not less.
- The indicator is for you. A red dot and an elapsed timer appear in the window, the menu bar and the floating button whenever audio is being kept. They are visible to you and not to the call, so telling people is your part.
- It does not start on its own. When it notices a call in Zoom, Teams, Slack, FaceTime or a browser, it asks on the floating button, and nothing is saved until you press Allow. The ways to start without a click each time — arming the next call, "always record" for an app, recording from ticked calendars — are choices you make in advance, shown on screen and withdrawable.
- Audio stays on your Mac. It is transcribed on the device. Only transcript text is sent, and only when you ask for AI notes or have write-ups turned on. The privacy policy sets this out.
None of this decides whether a particular recording is lawful. That depends on the layers above and on the people in the meeting.
A checklist before you record
- Know where every participant is, roughly.
- If anyone could be in an all-party jurisdiction, treat the meeting as needing everyone's agreement.
- Check your organisation's and your client's rules.
- Tell people at the start, and in the invitation if there is one.
- Stop if anyone objects.
- Decide how long you will keep the audio, the transcript and the notes.
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to record a meeting without telling anyone?
In some places a participant may record without telling the others, and in many places they may not. Several US states, Germany and others require everyone's agreement, and data-protection law may require you to tell people even where recording itself is allowed. Telling everyone at the start is the practice that works across all of them.
Which law applies when people join from different places?
It is often unclear, and more than one law can apply at once. A California court has applied California's all-party rule to calls recorded in another state. The practical approach is to follow the strictest rule that could apply to anyone on the call.
If the meeting app lets me record, does that make it legal?
No. A host's permission in Zoom or Teams controls that app's recorder. It says nothing about recording law, data-protection law or your employer's policy.
Does the recording notice in Zoom or Teams count as consent?
It may help show people knew, but whether it counts as consent depends on the law that applies and on whether people could genuinely say no. It also does not cover a recorder outside the app, which the other participants cannot see.
Is recording a meeting for my own notes treated differently?
Sometimes. Some data-protection laws exempt purely personal activity, but that rarely covers work meetings, and recording laws usually apply whatever the purpose.