Is it legal to voice record a meeting at my workplace without the consent of all the parties involved?
I would doubt its legal. ITs not in the USA.
Why not? Many do it.
Iâm not sure thatâs correct. Iâm led to believe that in the USA, if at least one participant consents (i.e. you, the recorder), it is legal. I could be wrong though.
YOu must tell the other party the conversation is being recorded or else it is not legal.
Thats why when you call up many companies the recorded message states that the call âmay be recorded for quality assuranceâ or some such statement.
You can not give yourself consent to record your conversation with someone else.
You are right. What would be âillegalâ is making it public without their consent.
The point is that you (the recorder) is part of the conservation. If you are not its illegal.
callcorder.com/phone-recordi ⌠merica.htm
Here you go, as far as the USA is concerned. It may or may not be legal dependent on the state , even if you are part of the conversation.
Presumably the OP is asking about Taiwan.
I doubt itâs illegal in Taiwan. And even if it is, itâs also illegal to ride motorbikes on the sidewalk, but what are you gonna do about it? :no-no: 
Taiwan has no shortage of laws.
Its the enforcement of said laws where things get a bit hazy.
If in doubtâŚturn on the recorder.
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Perhaps something is missing in this discussion.
The question is: "What do you plan to do with the record of that conversation after you have recorded it?? "
Is the intent to get it transcribed, and certified as being an accurate transcription, to be used in some sort of legal action?? or in some negotiation concerning your ârightsâ???
In my experience in dealing with the administrative agencies and courts here, it is highly unusual for someone to present such âevidenceâ to make a point ⌠or to âsucceedâ in accomplishing anything by presenting such a transcription âŚ
In other words, the following might be a sample conversation with the Taiwan Immigration Authorities â
You: (holding up your transcription documents) ⌠âOh, here is proof that my boss lied to me about the legality of sending me to work in the kindergarten, and he also told me that he would be under-reporting my income, failing to take out proper withholding taxes, etc. and would not sign me up for national health insurance until eight months after I really began work. He also forged a new expiry date on my ARC.â
Immigration Official: These are serious violations of the law.
You: Right, you should certainly punish my employer.
Immigration Official: Well, the best course of action would be for us to deport you first and deal with him later. You have committed all of these crimes, and that is very serious.
You: But my employer is the one to blame.
Immigration Official: You will need to go to the Tax Office and pay the taxes and fines on your under-reported income.
You: Shouldnât my employer pay those? Or at least help me fill out the paperwork?
Immigration Official: Well, you are the one who has failed to pay the proper taxes. ⌠Also, we talked to your employer and he said that several days after you had that âdiscussionâ (which you recorded and had transcribed) ⌠he had another meeting with you and explained that what he told you previously was not 100% correct, but you insisted on going ahead with the âillegal arrangementsâ âŚ
You: I donât remember any such conversation.
Immigration Official: You have been working so many long hours that your memory has become blurred. Maybe we should escort you to the detention center until your memory clears up.
You: Are you charging me with some crimes? What are the charges against me?
Immigration Official: Your employer also told us that you touched the breasts of several female employees in the office, and he was going to fire you outright, but then you came up with all of these other allegations, and tried to put the blame on him.
You: That is ridiculous. I never did such things.
Immigration Official: They employerâs wife is willing to testify that you tried to take advantage of her one evening when the two of you were eating dinner boxes in the office all alone. So ⌠all in all ⌠It might be in your best interests to settle all of these matters as quickly as possible, otherwise she may report you to several of the local womenâs foundations. They might make a big scandal.
You: I never had dinner with the employerâs wife.
Immigration Official: She said you tried to push her into the bathroom and take off her dress. Then you forced her hand down your pants.
You: Does the employer have any proof of these allegations?
Immigration Official: We have no reason to doubt what he and his wife say. After all it is commonly known that foreign males are very âactiveâ ⌠sexually, ⌠so such allegations are hardly surprising.
You: !? !G @ %!)j& !f!! m! -]y0 mjk~= [<r @!a %$ a !!
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maybe insted of fanciful stories the original question could be addressed.
I wanted to record the meeting for two reaons: 1. Having a record of what transpired and any conclusions if they were arrived at, 2. Having a record to present to higher management if said conclusions were unacceptable or not carried out.
Unless you are wearing a wire to record your conversations with suspects that did heinous crimes, it may be just common courtesy to let others know your conversation is being recorded.
For example I might be willing to pose nude for a bunch of art students , but not if im being recorded and put on youtube.
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[quote=âtommy525â]Unless you are wearing a wire to record your conversations with suspects that did heinous crimes, it may be just common courtesy to let others know your conversation is being recorded.
For example I might be willing to pose nude for a bunch of art students , but not if im being recorded and put on youtube.[/quote]
He is not asking about common courtesy or ethics⌠but about legality.
I do believe it is legal to record open conversations. I record some conversations including skype phone calls.
Iâd say common courtesy would dictate that you plunk the device on the table and say: âyou donât mind if I record this conversation, do you? Only, I may need it for reference later and it saves me taking notes.â
If they say no, simply pull out a notepad and pencil, sigh, and say âthis meeting is going to take a LOT longer than either of us anticipated!â
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As with many things, the appropriateness of the recording scenario is going to make a lot of difference. Doing it secretly means you probably wonât be able to use it, and doing it publicly may (depending on the situation) make them eyeball you for a freak. And like with Schroedingerâs or Heisenbergâs respective cat and principle, you may essentially end up recording a version of them that is substantially different from what they would normally be like â maybe thatâs a plus sometimes but not always. Just saying that the recording device could be a distraction or perhaps something that hurts more than it helps. Perhaps if youâre trying to get people to aknowledge matters agreed upon in a meeting, it may be better to put together simple meeting minutes that everybody initials at the end.
The value of recorded conversations also doesnât really help much unless itâs the police doing it. I knew someone who liked to record so many meetings that there was just way too much stuff. If given a choice between a huge stack of transcripts and translations and listening to a load of malarkey, guess what which one takes a lot less effort for a judge with a heavy caseload?
Can anyone help and provide a number / contact details of a lawyer / person with knowledge of Taiwanese law who I could contact and ask about this? They donât have to speak English.
Contacted a local lawyer. As long as youâre part of the meeting, secretly recording it is legal.
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Not sure about Taiwan, but in the US, it varies by state. In my state of Colorado, itâs legal to record a conversation without anotherâs knowledge as long as there are no more than two participants in the conversation. Iâm not sure whether a recorder counts as a participant, but the law says that two people can be talking, and as long as nobody else is in the room, one of those two people can turn on a recorder without the otherâs knowledge and use it in a court of law.
Not completely acurate. It depends on the state. State laws vary from not allowed, to allowed where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy, to âsure, any timeâ.
Is it illegal to secretly record someone? I mean more in meetings and private conversations. Some of my Taiwnese co workers do that. Use their phone to record conversations without the other person knowing.
Not really concerned with US law. Wanted to know if it was legal in Taiwan. I have no plans to do it. I know some of my co workers do it. Guess you need to be extra careful because you never know when a Taiwanese colleague might be recording you.