Recording Phone Calls

CrazyChemist_2

clayts wrote:

MY understanding is that if anyone wants to use a recorded conversation in a court of law they have to seek the other person's permission - of course, this will rarely be forthcoming, esp. if they incriminate themselves

What I don't understand is despite someone saying something libellious or otherwise wrong, why should they get away with it becase of what, in truth, is a minor technicality??

zincoxide

CrazyChemist wrote:

What I don't understand is despite someone saying something libellious or otherwise wrong, why should they get away with it becase of what, in truth, is a minor technicality??

Quite right you are too...but unfortunately that's just the way the British Law works - they/you must adhere to the correct legislation etc in order to secure any sort of conviction.

The reasons these different pieces of legislation/law are in place is to prevent abuse by the 'not so honest' minority.

CrazyChemist_2

zincoxide wrote:

Quite right you are too...but unfortunately that's just the way the British Law works - they/you must adhere to the correct legislation etc in order to secure any sort of conviction.

The reasons these different pieces of legislation/law are in place is to prevent abuse by the 'not so honest' minority.

The 'not so honest' minority who work as executives on your company board? I wouldn't have bothered to protect them because they obviously said something or admitted to something. But then, that's probably your job at the end of the day. :rolleyes:

zincoxide

CrazyChemist wrote:

The 'not so honest' minority who work as executives on your company board? I wouldn't have bothered to protect them because they obviously said something or admitted to something. But then, that's probably your job at the end of the day. :rolleyes:

Just to get this into context - the execs were being honest, it was the caller that wasn't, he was trying to squeeze corporate information from them by posing as a reporter. This information is extremely sensitive and could blow a new proposition that will actually save our customers money as well as making us some!

If they had been doing something wrong then they would be reported to the relevant authorities through whistle blowing. It is my job to ensure the integrity of our employees as well as protecting the company from theft/fraud.

Back to your idea though - have you decided if you are prepared to record calls?

CrazyChemist_2

zincoxide wrote:

Just to get this into context - the execs were being honest, it was the caller that wasn't, he was trying to squeeze corporate information from them by posing as a reporter. This information is extremely sensitive and could blow a new proposition that will actually save our customers money as well as making us some!

If they had been doing something wrong then they would be reported to the relevant authorities through whistle blowing. It is my job to ensure the integrity of our employees as well as protecting the company from theft/fraud.

Back to your idea though - have you decided if you are prepared to record calls?

Oh right, sorry I misunderstood the situation - I thought it was your execs who said something incriminating!

At £10 I think it's worth having a device to record calls. Obviously not all calls but only incomings where there isn't a Caller ID. I will also let people know that it's being recorded but this will only be for calls from companies/calls that need to be verified/recorded for protection and fact verification.

I'm also considering an excessively annoying call handling system...

ericpode

What about the numerous TV shows (e.g. Watchdog) that do secret filming (sound and vision)? Surely they are breaking the law? They are certainly doing it for gain (viewing figures).

Does journalistic use overrule this law?

JohalaReewi

An article on the BBC website which might be of interest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4801072.stm

lipidicman

I was just going to refer to the Met Chief story

From the BBC story

The recording and monitoring of telephone calls is governed by a number of different pieces of UK legislation, according to Ofcom, the telephone industry regulator. It is not illegal for individuals to tape conversations providing the recording is for their own use, under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).

It is a civil, not criminal, matter if a conversation or e-mail has been recorded and shared unlawfully.

If a person intends to make the conversation available to a third party, they must first obtain the consent of the person being recorded.

I wonder if you can say in court that 'the person refused permission and therefore has something to hide'? Otherwise everyone could and would refuse all requests! Anyone know about this?

Flimber

There are loads of bits of software which will permit any modem-equipped PC to record 'phone calls

See,

http://www.nch.com.au/trx/ & http://www.voicecallcentral.com/callcorder.htm

List: http://www.tucows.com/Windows/Internet/PhoneCallRecording/

There are a few freeware ones too.

Mike.