Recording calls and meetings in France: the law in plain terms

For recording calls in France, the law starts with the Code pénal: under article 226-1 of the Code pénal, recording words spoken privately or confidentially without the speaker's consent can be an offence, punishable by up to one year in prison and a €45,000 fine. Keeping, using or passing on such a recording is a separate offence under article 226-2. The text does not exempt someone who takes part in the conversation, and it treats consent as given only when people knew and could have objected.

On top of that sits the GDPR, with the CNIL's guidance on recording at work and the Code du travail's rules on informing employees. This guide covers both layers and ends with a routine for calls with people in France. For the picture across countries, see is it legal to record a meeting?

Recording calls in France: the law at a glance

Layer 1: article 226-1 of the Code pénal

Article 226-1 (checked 25 September 2026) punishes with one year's imprisonment and a €45,000 fine the deliberate invasion of another person's private life by, among other things, "captant, enregistrant ou transmettant, sans le consentement de leur auteur, des paroles prononcées à titre privé ou confidentiel" — capturing, recording or transmitting words spoken in a private or confidential capacity, without the consent of the person who spoke them.

Three features matter for meetings.

Consent can be presumed, but only in the open. The article says consent is presumed where the acts were done "au vu et au su des intéressés sans qu'ils s'y soient opposés, alors qu'ils étaient en mesure de le faire" — in plain view and with the knowledge of those concerned, without their objecting when they were able to. That is close to a description of announcing a recording at the start of a call and carrying on when nobody objects.

It is about the words, not the line. The offence turns on words spoken privately or confidentially and the absence of the speaker's consent. The text does not carve out a participant who records. Whether and when French courts have treated a participant's own secret recording as an offence is a matter of case law this guide did not verify, so do not rely on being a participant.

Aggravated cases. The penalties rise to two years and €60,000 where the offender is the victim's spouse or partner, and the article was amended in March 2024 (Loi n° 2024-247) to add aggravations where the victim holds public office or is a candidate.

Using or sharing the recording

Article 226-2 punishes with the same penalties keeping, disclosing to the public or to a third party, or using in any way a recording obtained through an act under article 226-1. Forwarding a secretly made recording to a colleague is the kind of act it describes.

It usually starts with a complaint

Under article 226-6, prosecution for these offences requires a complaint (plainte) from the victim. That does not make a recording lawful; it means the risk tends to arise when a relationship has already gone wrong, which is also when recordings get used.

Recordings as evidence

In a civil case in December 2023, the Cour de cassation's full court (Assemblée plénière, n° 20-20.648) held that evidence obtained unlawfully or unfairly "ne conduit pas nécessairement à l'écarter des débats": it is not automatically excluded. The judge weighs the right to evidence against the rights it infringes, and the evidence must be indispensable and the infringement strictly proportionate. The facts involved an employer's secret recordings of meetings with an employee.

That ruling is about whether a court may look at a recording in a civil dispute. It does not make secret recording lawful, and it does not remove criminal liability under article 226-1.

Layer 2: the GDPR and the CNIL

A recording of a work meeting, its transcript and any notes made from it are personal data about everyone in the meeting. The GDPR applies in France as everywhere in the EU, and the CNIL is the regulator. Recording meetings under GDPR goes through the steps: a lawful basis, a notice at the time, a retention period, and a contract with every processor.

What the CNIL says about recording at work

The CNIL's page on listening to and recording calls at work (checked 25 September 2026) is dated 2009 and marked by the CNIL itself as obsolete and being updated, so read it as an indication of the regulator's approach rather than current doctrine. Among its points:

• An employer may set up occasional listening or recording to train staff, evaluate them or improve service quality.
• It may not set up permanent or systematic recording, unless a law provides for it.
• Employees must be told the purposes, who is responsible, the recipients, how long recordings are kept and their rights, and when they may be recorded.
• Staff representatives must be informed and consulted before a system is installed.
• The people on the other end must be told of their right to object before the call ends.
• Recordings may be kept for up to six months; analysis documents for up to a year.

The CNIL's answers to individuals are shorter: an employer may neither record nor listen to employees' calls without telling them, and callers must be informed at the time of the call, for example by a message at the start.

The Code du travail

Two articles frame any recording of employees:

• L1222-4: no information about an employee personally may be collected by a system that was not brought to their attention beforehand.
• L1121-1: restrictions on employees' rights must be justified by the task and proportionate to the aim.

A team-wide notetaker rollout in France is therefore a question for HR and the staff representatives (the CSE), not just for IT. Can your employer record your meetings? looks at this from the employee's side.

When you are outside France and they are in it

If you are in the UK or the US and the other person is in France, French law may still be relevant to recording their words, and your own country's rules apply to you too. You do not need to settle which law wins if you follow the stricter one: tell them, and record only if they agree. How to ask for consent to record has wording in English; in French, "Est-ce que je peux enregistrer la conversation pour mes notes ?" is a plain way to ask. The same approach is set out for Germany in recording calls in Germany.

A routine for calls with people in France

1. Say in the invitation that you would like to record, and why.
2. Start the recorder, then ask at the start of the call, so the question and the answers are on the recording.
3. Wait for each person to answer. If anyone says no, do not record.
4. Do not pass the recording to anyone outside the meeting. Share checked notes instead.
5. Decide how long you keep the audio, and delete it on that date.

How Notey fits into this

Notey does not make a recording lawful; the people in the meeting do. What it does is keep the recording in one place and make the moment of asking easy to capture.

• Nothing is saved until you press Allow when Notey notices a call. Recording without a click each time happens only through a choice you made first, such as arming the next call, and is shown on screen.
• The audio stays on your Mac and is transcribed there with Apple's on-device speech recognition, in the Mac's language. French is among the languages live transcription supports; the improved transcript after a meeting is English only.
• AI notes send transcript text only, when you ask or when write-ups are on, to Notey's service and on to OpenAI as a processor. The privacy policy sets this out.
• Deleting a meeting removes its recording, transcript and notes, and with sync on, from every one of your Macs.
• The red dot and elapsed timer are visible to you, not to the call. Article 226-1's presumption depends on the others knowing, so saying it out loud is the part that counts.

Frequently asked questions

Is it illegal to record a phone call in France without telling the other person?

It can be. Article 226-1 of the Code pénal makes it an offence to record words spoken privately or confidentially without the speaker's consent. The article does not exempt a person who takes part in the conversation.

What counts as consent under article 226-1?

The article presumes consent where the recording was made in plain view and with the knowledge of the people concerned, and they did not object when they could have. Announcing the recording and giving people a chance to say no fits that wording.

Can my employer in France record my calls?

According to the CNIL, only occasionally and for defined purposes such as training or service quality, with employees told in advance and staff representatives consulted. Permanent or systematic recording is not allowed unless a law provides for it.

Can a secret recording be used as evidence in France?

In civil cases, the Cour de cassation held in December 2023 that unfairly obtained evidence is not automatically excluded; the judge weighs it. That says nothing about whether making the recording was lawful, and criminal liability is a separate question.

Does the GDPR apply to a recording I make for work in France?

Generally, yes. The GDPR's exemption covers purely personal or household activity, which a work meeting usually is not.