Privacy : The Reporter, the Telephone, and the Tape Recorder / Sam G. Riley and Joel M. Wiessler.

Federal and state law provides, for the most part, little specific guidance to persons tape recording their own telephone calls for their own record-keeping purposes. In a specific case, a Pennsylvania newsman was prosecuted in 1972 on charges of wiretapping his own telephone conversations without notice to the other parties in the calls. A review of the cases applicable in Pennsylvania showed that the tape recording of one's own telephone communications may violate the privacy of the other party, but it is possible that "implied consent" or "fair use" legal precedents could be applied if judges and/or lawmakers choose. The general practice of unannounced telephone tape recording by police and fire departments as well as by newsmen and others as yet remains unexamined in the nation as a whole. The practice occurs many times without the knowledge of the telephoning public, but remains in the "grey area" of the law. (CH)

Microfiche. [Washington D.C.]: ERIC Clearinghouse microfiches : positive.