Glossary
Call recording and consent
In Germany, recording a phone call is generally only permitted if the participants were informed beforehand and have consented.
This entry describes German law; the rules differ from country to country. In Germany the privately spoken word is protected by criminal law: recording it without authorisation can be an offence under section 201 of the Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch, StGB). The EU General Data Protection Regulation applies as well, because voice and the content of a call are personal data. A recording needs a legal basis, which in practice is usually explicit consent.
A notice in the greeting alone is generally not enough; consent has to be given actively, for example with a yes or a key press, and it has to be voluntary. Transcripts and summaries without an audio recording are a separate matter with data protection rules of their own. How long recordings are stored and who has access should be settled in advance.
In practice
On the phone, the question about recording belongs at the very start, before any content is discussed. The usual form is a short notice of the recording and its purpose, followed by a clear question the caller answers with yes or no. After a no, the call continues without a recording. It should be logged that consent was given, and when. Internally you need answers to three questions: what is the recording for, who may listen to it, and when is it deleted? Whether your wording holds under German and EU law is best checked by a data protection professional.
An example
An insurance broker would like to record calls so that claims can be traced later. Her assistant says at the start: “To process your claim we would like to record this call. Do you agree?” One caller replies: “I’d rather not.” The assistant confirms that nothing is being recorded and takes the claim all the same. The broker receives a written summary, but no audio of this conversation.
A common misunderstanding
The best-known misconception is the sentence “This call may be recorded for quality purposes” used as supposed permission. Information is not yet consent. It is equally often assumed that anyone who keeps talking after the notice has agreed. Recording and evaluation are confused as well: even without an audio file, a transcript and a summary are personal data, for which you need a legal basis and deletion periods.
At Call0
According to its privacy policy, Call0 records audio only when recording is enabled, the caller has been informed and any required consent has been obtained. Continuing the call alone does not count as consent.
Source: Section 201 of the German Criminal Code (StGB), in German
This entry explains the general principle, with a focus on German and EU law, and is not legal advice. For your case, the text of the law and the advice of a qualified professional apply.
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As of: 12 October 2026