Call Recording Laws in New Hampshire

Plain-English summary

New Hampshire is an all-party-consent state. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 570-A:2 prohibits the willful interception of any telecommunication or oral communication, and unlike the federal statute, the participant exception at § 570-A:2(I-a)(d) requires consent of all parties.

A participant in a New Hampshire phone call must obtain consent from every other party before recording.

Case law of note

No appellate decision in New Hampshire has materially reshaped the participant-recording rule in recent decades. Lower-court decisions exist but do not change the analytical framework set by the statute and by general federal precedent under § 2511.

Edge cases and special rules

In-person vs. phone. Same — all-party
Voicemail. Leaving a message creates the recording at the recipient’s direction; reviewing one’s own voicemail is not interception.
Vicarious consent. Several federal courts have recognized a parental-consent doctrine permitting a parent to consent on behalf of a minor child (Pollock v. Pollock, 154 F.3d 601 (6th Cir. 1998)). State law varies; no controlling New Hampshire appellate decision on the question.
Law enforcement. Court-authorized intercepts are governed by a separate framework and are outside the scope of this page.
Cross-border calls. Where any participant is in an all-party state, treat the stricter rule as the safer default. See cross-border calls.

Penalties and remedies

Criminal: Class B felony.

Civil: Yes — § 570-A:11 provides a civil action.

Evidence: a recording made in violation of the New Hampshire statute is generally inadmissible in New Hampshire proceedings. Federal § 2515 separately bars use of unlawfully intercepted communications in federal proceedings.

Practical guidance

If you are recording an ordinary phone call: obtain audible consent from every party at the start of the call.
Suggested opening: See our consent script templates for jurisdiction-specific language.
If the other party objects: stop recording. Continued recording over an objection is a separate factual question that no consent statute helps you with.
What to keep: the date and time of the call, the parties’ phone numbers, a description of the consent given (express verbal, continued participation after notice, etc.), and the audio file itself.