Florida Call Recording Laws: All-Party Consent

Florida requires the prior consent of every party to record a phone call or private conversation. Recording without it is generally a third-degree felony under Fla. Stat. § 934.03, and the people recorded can sue for at least $1,000 plus punitive damages.

Florida is one of the most consequential all-party states for businesses because of its population and the number of national companies that call Floridians. If any of your callers are in Florida, plan on full consent.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Florida recording law at a glance

Question	Answer in Florida
Consent rule	All parties, prior consent
Main statute	Fla. Stat. § 934.03 (Security of Communications Act)
Criminal penalty	Third-degree felony
Civil damages	Actual damages, minimum $100/day or $1,000, plus punitive damages and fees (§ 934.10)
Time to sue	2 years from reasonable opportunity to discover
Federal one-party rule as a defense	Expressly excluded

What the statute says

Section 934.03(1) prohibits intentionally intercepting, disclosing or using any wire, oral or electronic communication except as the chapter allows. Section 934.03(2)(d) then provides the private-person exception:

"It is lawful under this section and ss. 934.04-934.09 for a person to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication when all of the parties to the communication have given prior consent to such interception."

The same subsection allows a person acting under color of law to record with one party's consent when the purpose is to obtain evidence of a criminal act. Private businesses recording customer calls do not fall under that exception.

What counts as an "oral communication"

For in-person conversations, Florida's definition (§ 934.02) covers communications uttered by a person who has a reasonable expectation that the communication is not subject to interception. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), a speech at a public event would not qualify, and public meetings are excluded. Phone calls are covered as wire or electronic communications.

Texts, email and electronic communications

The RCFP notes that Florida defines electronic communication broadly as "any transfer of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds, data, or intelligence of any nature," so all-party consent also governs intercepting texts and emails in transit.

Penalties

Violation	Statute	Classification
Intercepting, disclosing or using a communication without all-party consent	§ 934.03(4)(a)	Third-degree felony
First offense involving certain unscrambled radio communications, not for illegal purpose or commercial gain	§ 934.03(4)(b)	Lesser penalty

A third-degree felony in Florida carries up to five years in prison and a fine up to $5,000 (§§ 775.082, 775.083). The lesser-penalty exception is narrow and tied to radio communications, so it does not help a business that records phone calls without consent.

Civil liability

Section 934.10(1) gives anyone whose communication is intercepted, disclosed or used in violation of the chapter a civil claim against "any person or entity" involved. Relief includes:

• Equitable or declaratory relief
• Actual damages, but not less than liquidated damages of $100 a day for each day of violation or $1,000, whichever is higher
• Punitive damages
• A reasonable attorney's fee and litigation costs

The action must be filed within two years after the claimant first has a reasonable opportunity to discover the violation (§ 934.10(3)).

No federal one-party defense

Section 934.10(2) lists good-faith defenses, including a good-faith determination that Florida or federal law permitted the conduct, "other than 18 U.S.C. s. 2511(2)(d)." That is the federal one-party consent provision. Florida has specifically ruled out "federal law allowed it" as a defense for one-party recording.

Who can sue

According to the RCFP, Florida courts have required either that the plaintiffs be Florida residents or that the intercepted words were spoken in Florida (Cohen Brothers, LLC v. ME Corp., 2004). A caller sitting in Florida speaking to your out-of-state office meets that test.

Calls between Florida and other states

Neighboring state	Rule for phone calls
Georgia	One-party
Alabama	One-party

Florida is surrounded by one-party states, but the stricter rule follows the Floridian. An Atlanta or Birmingham company calling Florida customers should get all-party consent. Courts in all-party states have applied their own law to calls from outside the state. Read interstate call recording consent, and see the recording laws by state.

How Florida businesses comply

Notice before recording

Prior consent means before the recording starts capturing the conversation. Play a notice at the start of inbound calls. A caller who hears the notice and continues is generally treated as consenting; one who objects should not be recorded.

Outbound calls

Open with the notice on every outbound recorded call: "Hi, this is [name] with [business]. This call is recorded." For sales teams calling from lead lists, build it into the opening line.

Real estate, insurance and home services

These Florida industries live on the phone, and many teams use cellphone apps that record automatically. An app that records silently is a felony risk in Florida. Use a system that announces recording, or turn automatic recording off.

Employees

Employees are parties too. Get written consent from staff to recording of business calls and monitoring.

Snowbirds and seasonal residents

Many Florida residents keep out-of-state cellphone numbers. You cannot tell from an area code who is in Florida. Announce recording on every call.

Three Florida scenarios

A Tampa insurance agency records quote calls after a greeting notice. The caller hears that the call is recorded and chooses to continue. That is the standard way businesses obtain prior consent from everyone on the line.

An Orlando roofer uses a cellphone app that records every call silently. Each recording made without the homeowner's consent can be a separate third-degree felony and a separate civil claim with a $1,000 minimum. Disable silent auto-recording.

A Chicago company records a call with a customer in Miami. Illinois is an all-party state for private conversations too, but even if it were not, the Miami caller's words were spoken in Florida, which Florida courts have treated as enough to bring a claim. Notice protects you under both states' laws.

Florida recording checklist

• Recording notice before any conversation on recorded inbound calls
• Notice in the opening line of outbound recorded calls
• No silent auto-recording apps on staff phones
• Written employee consent to recording and monitoring
• Callers who object are not recorded
• Third parties joining a call are told
• Recordings restricted and retained on a schedule
• Recordings made without consent are not disclosed or used

See call recording disclosure scripts for wording.

Recording calls in Florida with Callata

Callata announces recording automatically. With recording turned on, Callata plays "This call may be recorded." to both sides when a call connects, on inbound and outbound calls, including calls your team answers on their cell phones through Callata. Recordings are transcribed and summarized with sentiment and action items on the contact's history. Callata's terms keep consent-law compliance with you. For $99 a month you get five users with recording included, and more users are $20 a month each. Sign up.