California law requires all parties' consent to recording of communications

The Court of Appeals for the 9th Cir. confirmed on January 18, 2017 in the case Safari Club International v. Dr. Lawrence Rudolph (17 C.D.O.S. 427) that anyone recording confidential communications must obtain consent from all parties in California under Cal. Penal Code §§ 631 et seq. The court rejected arguments that "as a matter of law there can be no objectively reasonable expectation of confidentiality because the conversation occurred in a place that was open to the public. That contention is at odds with California authority viewing privacy as relative." In the case at hand, a conversation between executives of the Safari Club International discussed a dispute over lunch in Los Angeles, one considering the conversation confidential and the other one recording the conversation. California communications privacy laws apply also to companies and persons residing in other states or countries, see Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney (2006) 39 Cal. 4th 95 and its consent requirements extend to other forms of electronic communications, including e-mail, SMS, web access and video recordings, for more detail see Lothar Determann, California Privacy Law - Practical Guide and Commentary, 2nd Ed. 2017, pp. 270 et. seq. (Ch. 2-24). For more information, please contact Teresa Michaud, David Callaway or Lothar Determann.