Such evidence is not only normally not admissible in any court of law, but is quite often illegal to obtain. There are limited circumstances in some jurisdictions in which such evidence may be utilized and this article discusses the basic law applicable to the secret recording of such conversations. The reader should review our articles on American Litigation and Hard Drive Discovery before reading further. California has some of the strongest laws in the country on wiretapping.
Admittedly, damages are hard to prove in these cases. Recognizing this, the statutes provide for a multiplier of damages should the civil case be proven. Further, given the cost of litigation and the fact that the act is a crime, the exposure can be significant.
While obviously enacted to protect privacy rights, the statutes were also enacted to protect consumers in a world of mass telemarketing. That type of practice was eliminated but the law went much further in its effects. California is known as a "two-party" state, which means that recordings are not allowed unless all parties to the conversation consent to the recording.
This requires an automatic beep that occurs in the conversation during the entire recording-in effect, demonstrating both consent and notice to all parties. The above law has obvious loopholes. If the parties did not reasonably expect privacy, such recordings are perfectly legal. The criteria is simple: would an average person consider the contents of the conversation as private.
Simply because one is in a public place does not mean there is no expectation of privacy…many private conversations occur over a restaurant table. The person taking the recording thus risks a great deal if consent is not clearly and audibly obtained.
You can imagine how fun that is to listen to. I probably never would have listened to most of those recordings. But when I got the opportunity to produce a story about that period, I had to go back and listen to a lot of that old tape and it was awful. Most of it was mundane and it's unclear why I thought any of it was worth committing to tape, though I did discover a few gems.
Like that argument I had with Mark in the bar. I had forgotten about it until I found the recording of it. He was totally right about posterity only being good in small doses. I realise that now. Having to slog through hundreds of hours of my own boring life has made that very, very clear to me.
I am a radio producer now. My job is to make recordings and decide which moments are worth reliving and which should be erased. Mark also made his living recording. He was a musician and an engineer in a recording studio. He was a perfectionist. For him, the only moments worth capturing on tape were the transcendent ones that stop you in your tracks and make you marvel at the wonder of sound. The ones that remind you that life is temporal, that our existence is fleeting.
Which I understand now is precisely why it's remarkable. But I also think Sriya is right about the the positive aspect of having all these recordings of Mark. It's those recordings, the ones he didn't want me to make, that I love most. This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. This article was first published in The Sun. Apple has released a new feature for concerned users after copping criticism over its latest accessory, the AirTag.
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