Penal Code 632 PC - Eavesdropping Law in California
California Penal Code 632 PC prohibits eavesdropping, which uses an electronic amplifying or recording device to listen in on someone's confidential communication. The wobbler can be filed as a misdemeanor or a felony crime.
Notably, California is a two-party consent state, meaning all parties to a phone call or conversation must consent before someone can record it. Simply put, overhearing a private conversation is much different than intentionally eavesdropping.

Suppose you use an amplification or recording device to eavesdrop on someone's confidential communication. In that case, you could be charged with violating Penal Code 632 PC.
California is a "two-party consent" state, meaning both parties to a conversation must consent to recording it. Otherwise, the person recording may face potential criminal liability. If convicted, you could face up to three years in state prison.
There are some essential factors to consider when evaluating whether a recording of a conservation rises to criminal liability. First is whether the defendant intended to eavesdrop on someone's conversation.
Another is whether the defendant used an electronic device to listen to somebody's conversation and make a recording. PC 632 does not criminalize all acts of eavesdropping. This conduct is not criminal if someone listens to another person's private conversation using their unaided ears.
Another factor is whether the conversation is considered confidential. Confidentiality is when any party has an objectively reasonable expectation of privacy, including conversations in someone's home. The final element of the crime is whether the defendant had the consent of all parties to the conversation to listen in or record it.
Eavesdropping - Quick Facts
- PC 632 criminal eavesdropping is willfully using an electronic amplifying or recording device to eavesdrop upon or record confidential communication between others.
- California is a two-party consent state, referring specifically to telephone calls between two people.
- Both parties must consent to their conversation being amplified or recorded. This requirement underscores the importance of respecting privacy and the necessity of obtaining consent before recording a conversation.
- A communication is considered 'confidential' if it's not intended to be overheard or if there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. This includes private conversations that occur in a home or other private setting, where the parties involved have a reasonable expectation that their conversation will not be heard or recorded by others.
- The term "electronic amplifying or recording device" is defined as any technology used to make an audio recording of a conversation, including tape recorders, digital audio recorders, cell phone recorders, laptops, etc.
- There are no laws prohibiting you from using video surveillance cameras around your property for security.
What Factors Must Be Proven to Convict?
To convict you of this PC 632 crime, the district attorney must prove all the elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, such as the following:
- You willfully eavesdropped on a telephone communication, or
- You recorded an in-person or phone call between two or more people.
- You used an electronic amplifying or recording device.
- You did not have the consent of all parties to that conversation.
- You knew it was a confidential call or reasonably should have known.
What Are the Exceptions?
There are a few instances in which eavesdropping rules would not apply, and you would not be convicted of a crime, such as the following:
- If you are a police officer carrying out your duties, there must be probable cause after obtaining a proper warrant.
- If you set up video and audio surveillance in your home for security purposes, any recorded conversations would not be eavesdropped, except when there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Are Recordings Admissible In Court?
Notably, you can legally record a confidential communication, and it can be admitted as evidence if you are recording it to obtain evidence that the other person has committed any of the following crimes:
- Penal Code 653m PC annoying phone calls.
- Penal Code 207 PC kidnapping.
- Penal Code 518 PC extortion.
- Penal Code 67 PC bribery.
- A violent felony, such as PC 187 murder.
What Are the Related Crimes?
- Penal Code 631 PC wiretapping. This law makes it a crime to "tap" directly into someone else's phone line and listen to all conversations.
- Penal Code 647(i) PC peeking while loitering. This law makes it a misdemeanor to peek into an inhabited building while loitering on private property.
- Penal Code 647(j) PC criminal invasion of privacy. This law makes it a misdemeanor to violate someone's privacy by using a device to invade their privacy, secretly photographing their body for sexual gratification, or secretly photographing someone to view that person's body or undergarments.
- 18 U.S. Code 1801 federal video voyeurism. This law makes it a federal crime to knowingly and intentionally take an image of someone's private area without their consent and under circumstances in which they have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
What Are the PC 632 Penalties?
PC 532 eavesdropping is a "wobbler" offense in California, which can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony. The charge will depend on the facts of your case, your criminal history, and whether anyone was harmed due to the eavesdropping.
- If convicted of a misdemeanor eavesdropping, you will face up to one year in county jail and a fine of up to $2500.
- If convicted of a felony, you will face up to 3 years and a maximum fine of $2500.
- Penal Code 637.2 PC has civil remedies for recording victims who can file a civil lawsuit for damages against someone who eavesdropped on them.
What Are the PC 632 Defenses?
Several potential defenses against PC 632 charges exist, providing you with legal options and avenues for defense. The most common strategies against eavesdropping charges involve disproving one or more of the four elements of the crime, as listed above.

We can argue that your actions weren't willful. Maybe you captured the conversation by accident. We could also argue that the communication was not confidential.
We can argue that you did not use an electronic device. Overhearing a private conversation is not a crime; it must be amplified or recorded.
Maybe you had the consent of all parties. Perhaps everyone knew you were recording and agreed to it. Maybe there was no reasonable expectation of privacy.
Possibly, both were talking loudly in a public park; no one could reasonably expect their conversation to be private. Contact us for additional information. The Hedding Law Firm is based in Los Angeles, CA.
What Does the Law Say?
The full text of California Penal Code 632 PC says, "(a) A person who, intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication, uses an electronic amplifying or recording device to eavesdrop upon or record the confidential communication, whether the communication is carried on among the parties in the presence of one another or using a telegraph, telephone, or other device, except a radio, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) per violation, or imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.
Suppose the person was previously convicted of violating this section or Section 631, 632.5, 632.6, 632.7, or 636. In that case, the person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation, imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding one year, or in the state prison, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

(b) For this section, "person" means an individual, business association, partnership, corporation, limited liability company, or other legal entity, and an individual acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of any government or subdivision thereof, whether federal, state, or local, but excludes an individual known by all parties to a confidential communication to be overhearing or recording the communication.
(c) For this section, "confidential communication" means any communication carried on in circumstances as may reasonably indicate that any party to the communication desires it to be confined to the parties to it but excludes a communication made in a public gathering or in any legislative, judicial, executive, or administrative proceeding open to the public, or in any other circumstance in which the parties to the communication may reasonably expect that the communication may be overheard or recorded.
(d) Except as proof in an action or prosecution for violation of this section, evidence obtained from eavesdropping upon or recording a confidential communication violating this section is not admissible in any judicial, administrative, legislative, or other proceeding.
(e) This section does not apply (1) to any public utility engaged in the business of providing communications services and facilities or to the officers, employees, or agents thereof if the acts otherwise prohibited by this section are for construction, maintenance, conduct, or operation of the services and facilities of the public utility, (2) to the use of any instrument, equipment, facility, or service furnished and used under the tariffs of a public utility, or (3) to any telephonic communication system used for communication exclusively within a state, county, city, and county, or city correctional facility.
(f) This section does not apply to the use of hearing aids and similar devices by persons afflicted with impaired hearing for the purpose of overcoming the impairment to permit the hearing of sounds ordinarily audible to the human ear."
Related Content: