Validity of Recorded Telephone Conversations in Spain
Recording of calls or conversations is a matter that is dealt with differently depending on the country you are in. For example, Germany is a is a two-party consent state—telephone recording without the consent of the two or, when applicable, more, parties is a criminal offence.
In Spain on the contrary, calls and conversations by private persons may be recorded by any active participant. There is no requirement in laws to make other parties aware of the recording, and that is the general rule.
According to the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal, “where a person voluntarily divulges his opinions o secrets to a listener he already knows that he strips from his intimacies and transmits them, more or less trustingly, to whomever is listening who will then be able to use its content without incurring in any juridical reproach.”
It then adds that
The recording of a conversation between two or more people which one wishes to conserve to have a reliable acknowledgement of what was said does not amount to an invasion of privacy inasmuch as that person has accepted voluntarily to have that conversation and is responsible of the expressions used and the content of the conversation.
But the matter is not settled there: the 1999 Data Protection Act considers that voice and images are personal data that subject to a general regime of data protection and thus, handling such data would require the consent of any of the participants to a conversation. Alas, the Act does makes an exception to avoid clashing with the earlier Constitutional Tribunal ruling:
Consent will not be required where personal data is gathered by a party to a contract or pre-contract in a business, employment or administrative relationship and is required for the maintenance or enforcement of such relationship; also, where the treatment of such data has the aim of satisfying a legitimate interest pursued by the person party to the recording or a third party whom is given the recording.
In conclusion, anyone should accept that any conversation held with another person can be recorded legally and used in Court, transferred to a third party or even published on the web. And that is it: there is no possible discussion on wire-tapping third party conversations without judicial consent, a criminal offence punishable with up to 4 years imprisonment.
Dear Antonio
i AM A South AFRICAN WOMAN AND WAS INVITED TO VISIT MY BEST FRIEND.
after VERBALLY ABUSING ME SHE THREW ME OUT INTO THE STREET.
I TAPED THE ABUSE WITH MY CELL AND SENT THE CLIP TO A FRIEND IN South Africa.
What is the law at the moment in Spain for using this clip on social media.
My abusive friend sent me this when I threatened to expose her.
Those are infringements against article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and against the European Directive 95/46/EC as well as directive 2002/58.
Is this correct?
Yours sincerely
Veneta Gent
Suppose I call a Spanish company with whom I have a contract. I have a legitimate aim in seeking to record the call (e.g. I am conducting the telephone call to cancel the contract, and wish to have evidence that I have done so). Under Spanish law, can I record that telephone call without the company’s consent?
And do I need to inform the company that I am recording the conversation even if I don’t require their consent?
Many thanks, Paul.
I recently recorded a conversation between myself and the community office on our complex. The person I was speaking to has treated my wife and me very disrespectfully over the last few years. I passed via email a copy of the conversation to another member of the complex who is quite friendly with the person I spoke to. Did I breach any law by doing so? I would really appreciate any advice you may have please?