New Hampshire Call Recording Laws: All-Party Consent

New Hampshire requires the consent of all parties to record a phone call or private conversation. Under RSA 570-A:2, recording without anyone's consent is a class B felony, and even a participant who records with only their own consent commits a misdemeanor. People recorded can also sue.

New Hampshire is the strict state in northern New England. Maine and Vermont businesses calling New Hampshire customers need to follow its rule too.

This is general information, not legal advice.

New Hampshire recording law at a glance

Question	Answer in New Hampshire
Consent rule	All parties
Main statute	RSA 570-A:2
Recording with no party's consent	Class B felony
Participant recording without others' consent	Misdemeanor (RSA 570-A:2, I-a)
Civil remedy	RSA 570-A:11: at least $100/day or $1,000, punitive damages, fees
Business premises	Interception on business premises is expressly covered

What the statute says

RSA 570-A:2, I says a person is guilty of a class B felony if, except as the chapter provides "or without the consent of all parties to the communication," the person:

• willfully intercepts, or tries to intercept, any telecommunication or oral communication;
• uses a device to intercept oral communications when the device is connected to a wire, transmits by radio, or is used on the premises of a business or to obtain information about a business's operations;
• willfully discloses the contents of a communication knowing it was illegally intercepted; or
• willfully uses those contents knowing they were illegally intercepted.

RSA 570-A:2, I-a then sets a lesser offense:

"A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if, except as otherwise specifically provided in this chapter or without consent of all parties to the communication, the person knowingly intercepts a telecommunication or oral communication when the person is a party to the communication or with the prior consent of one of the parties to the communication..."

So New Hampshire treats a participant's secret recording as a crime, just a less serious one.

The business-premises clause

New Hampshire expressly covers devices used "on premises of any business or other commercial establishment" or to obtain information "relating to the operations of any business." Recording conversations in a workplace without everyone's consent is squarely within the statute.

What the misdemeanor tier means

Paragraph I-a separates a participant's secret recording from an outsider's eavesdropping. The outsider faces a class B felony; the participant faces a misdemeanor. That distinction reflects how serious each act is, but it does not make participant recording lawful, and it does not affect civil liability. For a business, the difference between a felony and a misdemeanor is not a compliance strategy. The goal is to avoid both by getting consent from everyone on the call.

Consent by knowledge

According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP), the New Hampshire Supreme Court held in State v. Locke (1999) that a party effectively consented when the circumstances showed they knew the communication was being recorded. In Fischer v. Hooper (1999), the court said a jury should consider a person's actions as well as words in deciding consent.

The court also held in State v. Lott (2005) that people who send email or instant messages implicitly consent to their recording, because the recipient's device must record them to display them.

For phone calls, a recording notice at the start of the call, followed by the caller continuing, is the clearest way to show knowledge and consent.

Penalties

Violation	Statute	Classification	Maximum (per RCFP)
Interception without any party's consent	570-A:2, I	Class B felony	7 years, $4,000
Participant recording without others' consent	570-A:2, I-a	Misdemeanor	1 year, $2,000
Disclosing or using illegally intercepted contents	570-A:2, I(c)-(d)	Class B felony	7 years
Recording in a private place	RSA 644:9	Misdemeanor	—

Civil liability

According to the RCFP, RSA 570-A:11 lets anyone whose communication was intercepted, disclosed or used in violation of the chapter recover the greater of actual damages, $100 a day for each day of violation, or $1,000, plus punitive damages, attorney's fees and costs.

Calls between New Hampshire and neighboring states

Neighbor	Rule for phone calls
Massachusetts	All-party; no secret recording
Maine	One-party
Vermont	No statute; one-party in practice

Southern New Hampshire is part of the Boston economy, and Massachusetts also prohibits secret recording. Maine and Vermont are one-party, but their businesses calling New Hampshire customers should get consent. Read interstate call recording consent and see the state-by-state table.

Three New Hampshire scenarios

A Manchester insurance agency plays "This call may be recorded" at the start of every call. Callers know and continue. That supports consent by all parties.

A Nashua salesperson records a phone negotiation on a cellphone app without telling the buyer. The salesperson is a party, so RSA 570-A:2, I-a applies: a misdemeanor, plus civil exposure of at least $1,000.

A Portsmouth business owner hides a recorder in the office to capture employee conversations. No party consented, and the device is on business premises. That is a class B felony.

What this means for New Hampshire businesses

Retail and tourism

Ski areas, lake rentals and retailers take calls from Massachusetts and beyond. Announce recording on every recorded call.

Professional services

Law, accounting and financial firms should get explicit consent and keep tight control of recordings.

Employees

Employees are parties too. Get written consent to recording of business calls, and do not record workplace conversations without everyone's knowledge.

Recording threatening or harassing calls

Businesses sometimes want to record abusive callers. New Hampshire's all-party rule makes that harder than in one-party states, and the statute's exceptions are mostly for law enforcement and communications carriers. If your staff receive threatening calls, report them to police, who can act under the chapter's procedures, and use your phone system's call logs to document dates and times. Announcing recording on every call also solves the problem in advance: a caller who continues after hearing the notice has been told.

New Hampshire recording checklist

• Recording notice before conversation on recorded inbound calls
• Disclosure in the opening line of outbound recorded calls
• No secret recording by staff, even of their own calls
• Written employee consent to call recording
• No hidden recording devices on business premises
• Callers who object are not recorded
• Access controls and retention schedule

Wording is in call recording disclosure scripts.

Recording calls in New Hampshire with Callata

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