Call Recording Laws in Pennsylvania

Plain-English summary

Pennsylvania is an all-party-consent state. 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5703 makes it a third-degree felony to intercept any wire, electronic, or oral communication, and § 5704(4) provides that consent of all parties is required for the participant exception.

A participant in a Pennsylvania phone call must obtain consent from every other party before recording. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has applied § 5703 strictly. The civil remedy at § 5725 provides actual damages with a $1,000-per-day minimum, punitive damages where appropriate, and attorney’s fees.

Case law of note

No appellate decision in Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania 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: Third-degree felony.

Civil: Yes — § 5725 provides civil damages including statutory damages.

Evidence: a recording made in violation of the Pennsylvania statute is generally inadmissible in Pennsylvania 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.