With the release of the alleged Mel Gibson rant tapes it has left many people wondering just how someone could record a phone conversation without the other person knowing about it. To be honest, that is very easy with all of the new technology out there. You can buy Digital Phone Recorders that can plug right into your phone or some that can act as your home phone while being ready to record should the need arise.

The more popular of the two main types of Phone Recorders would be the small Digital Recorders. They simply plug right into the headphone jack of your home or even cell phones and then you hit the record button and it will record until you stop it or it runs out of space.

They also can be used to record sound from within a room either using the built-in or an external microphone and some of the better models even have a voice activated feature so it will only record when it “hears” voices.

The less popular type of Phone Recorder can only record phone conversation that come through itself which means that you could not use it to record your cell phone or even a phone from another room. They also do not generally have the ability to record sounds from within a room either which would account for the lack of popularity.

So as you can see recording a phone conversation is quite easy these days and the person on the other line would never know unless you tell them but that is another issue you must consider.

You see many states have what they call a “two party consent” law which requires both parties be aware that they are being recorded. You need to know what the law is for your state should you decide to start recording phone conversations so you do not wind up getting yourself into hot water with the law enforcement community of your area.

To see whether your state has a “two party consent” law or not you can look here at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_recording_laws.

If you live in a “two party” consent state then you may want to reconsider the use of a phone recorder or at the very least consult an attorney to know exactly what you can do without breaking the laws of your state.

Stay safe!

The Judge