Can you record a phone call in France?
Everyone must agree before you record a private or confidential conversation. French criminal law punishes recording such words without the speaker's consent, and a business must also tell callers at the start of the call.
- Phone calls
- Article 226-1 of the Criminal Code (Code pénal) punishes deliberately invading someone's private life by capturing, recording or transmitting, without their consent, words spoken in a private or confidential capacity. The text does not exempt participants. Consent is presumed when the recording is made openly, in full view of the people concerned, and they do not object although they could. It also covers face-to-face talks.
- Business calls
- Under the GDPR, the CNIL allows recording only for a recognized need (training, evaluation, service quality, proof of a contract) and bans permanent or systematic recording unless a law allows it. Tell callers at the start. Keep recordings up to six months, analysis notes up to one year. Consult staff representatives (CSE) first. Insurance canvassing calls must be recorded by law.
- What counts as consent
- Inform callers in two steps: a short spoken notice at the start (that you record, why, and that they can object), then full details on a website or through a phone key. Callers must be able to object before the call ends.
- Penalties
- Article 226-1: up to 1 year in prison and a EUR 45,000 fine. The CNIL can also fine businesses under the GDPR, and treats recording every call as a breach of data minimization.
Say this at the start
Telling everyone and asking is the safe habit everywhere.
- English
Before we start: I record my calls so I can keep accurate notes. Is that OK with you?
- French
Avant de commencer : j'enregistre mes appels afin de pouvoir prendre des notes précises. Êtes-vous d'accord ?
Worth knowing
- The Cour de cassation holds that secretly recording your own call is not a crime when the talk is only about work (2006, 2023). Calls touching private life are covered, so the stricter reading is used here.
- Since a Cour de cassation plenary ruling of 22 December 2023, a secret recording can be accepted as evidence in civil cases if it is indispensable and the harm to privacy is strictly proportionate.
- The CNIL's main page on call recording dates from 2009 and is marked as being updated. A CNIL HR retention reference from April 2026 keeps the six-month limit for training and quality recordings.
Sources
Checked on 14 October 2026. A plain summary of the law, not legal advice.
- Code pénal, article 226-1 (Légifrance, as amended by the law of 21 March 2024)statute
- Cour de cassation, chambre criminelle, 14 February 2006, no. 05-84.384 (Juricaf)court
- CNIL: L'écoute et l'enregistrement des appels sur le lieu de travailregulator
- CNIL: L'enregistrement des conversations téléphoniques afin d'établir la preuve de la formation d'un contratregulator
- CNIL: Référentiel, durées de conservation, gestion des ressources humaines (April 2026, updated May 2026)regulator
Other countries
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Questions
Is France a one-party consent country?
No. Everyone must agree before you record a private or confidential conversation. French criminal law punishes recording such words without the speaker's consent, and a business must also tell callers at the start of the call.
Can a business record calls in France?
Under the GDPR, the CNIL allows recording only for a recognized need (training, evaluation, service quality, proof of a contract) and bans permanent or systematic recording unless a law allows it. Tell callers at the start. Keep recordings up to six months, analysis notes up to one year. Consult staff representatives (CSE) first. Insurance canvassing calls must be recorded by law.
What counts as consent in France?
Inform callers in two steps: a short spoken notice at the start (that you record, why, and that they can object), then full details on a website or through a phone key. Callers must be able to object before the call ends.
What happens if you record a call illegally in France?
Article 226-1: up to 1 year in prison and a EUR 45,000 fine. The CNIL can also fine businesses under the GDPR, and treats recording every call as a breach of data minimization.
Hang up. The notes are done.
Superscribe records your business calls on the number you already have and writes the note when you hang up. You say one line at the start, and it does the rest.
