recording conversations
Topic: Surveillance. Activity pages act as clean lookup hubs rather than a second content source.
Activity overview
What this hub is for
This activity currently has 20 starter country rows in the reset dataset. The current sample leans toward restricted outcomes, which is enough to test browse flows without pretending the dataset is complete.
Starter comparison cards
These show the countries currently mapped for this activity in the reset dataset.
Austria
Austria criminalises the unauthorised recording of non-public speech. The answer therefore depends on whether the conversation is public, whether consent exists, and whether another legal authority applies.
Canada
Recording a private conversation in Canada is not a clean yes or no because the Criminal Code bans knowingly intercepting a private communication unless one of the parties consents or another exception applies.
Denmark
Official Danish sources say secret listening to or recording conversations between other people is prohibited, while recordings that process personal data must satisfy data-protection rules on necessity, lawful basis, information and storage.
France
Secret recording of a conversation is not a clean lawful default in France and Service Public says audio or video recordings made without consent are disloyal evidence in ordinary civil proceedings.
Germany
Recording a non public conversation in Germany without authorization is a criminal offence but the answer changes if all speakers consent or the words are not non public.
Hong Kong
Under Hong Kong's PDPO, consent is not generally required before collecting personal data by audio-recording, but secret recording can be unfair; before audio-recording, the recording party should inform the data subject that recording will be made and the purpose of the recording.
Iceland
Icelandic data-protection guidance does not treat audio recording as a free-for-all. The official page says conversations between other people may not be recorded unless they agree, and repeated or ongoing recording can amount to electronic monitoring.
India
India recognises privacy as a constitutional right, and the Supreme Court has treated surreptitious recording of a private conversation without the other person's knowledge as capable of infringing privacy, though privacy may be balanced against competing lawful interests such as fair trial.
All current country rows
The table remains useful for auditing coverage and row state while the data is still sparse.
| Country | Status | Row state |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Unclear | verified |
| Austria | Depends | verified |
| Canada | Depends | verified |
| Denmark | Depends | verified |
| France | Depends | verified |
| Germany | Depends | verified |
| Hong Kong | Depends | verified |
| Iceland | Depends | verified |
| India | Depends | verified |
| Japan | Unclear | verified |
| Luxembourg | Depends | verified |
| New Zealand | Depends | verified |
| Oman | Depends | verified |
| Poland | Unclear | verified |
| Singapore | Depends | verified |
| South Africa | Depends | verified |
| South Korea | Depends | verified |
| Switzerland | Depends | verified |
| United Kingdom | Unclear | verified |
| United States | Depends | verified |