Recording customer calls: Canada and US rules for trades

If your business records customer calls, or uses an AI receptionist that does, two sets of rules apply: criminal law on intercepting conversations, and privacy law on collecting personal information. Here is how they fit together for trades in Canada and the US.

Canada: one-party consent, but tell people anyway

Under the Criminal Code (s. 184), recording a private conversation is an offence unless someone taking part in it consents. A business that is itself on the call counts as that party (s. 184(2)(a)). So recording your own customer calls isn't a crime.

Privacy law is stricter. Businesses covered by PIPEDA, or by Alberta's or BC's own private-sector privacy acts (PIPA), are expected to tell callers they're being recorded and why. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner's guidance also says to offer an alternative to people who don't want to be recorded. In practice that means:

• say at the start of the call that it's recorded and what for (for example, “so we get your details right”);
• stop recording if the caller asks, and still help them;
• keep recordings only as long as you need them, and protect them.

United States: depends on the state

US federal law allows recording with one party's consent (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)), but states can be stricter. These states require the consent of everyone on the call, or have laws that are usually treated that way:

Callers can phone from another state, and you usually can't tell where they are, so the simplest safe habit is to announce the recording on every call. Staying on the line after a clear announcement is widely treated as consent. Check with a lawyer for your state.

AI receptionists: say it's an AI

Apart from recording, callers should never be misled into thinking they're talking to a person. Some US states have passed or proposed bot-disclosure rules, and regulators treat deceptive practices seriously in both countries. Towntide Voice starts every call by saying it's an AI assistant, and answers “yes” if someone asks whether it's a robot.

What Towntide Voice does by default

• Every call opens with: “I'm [name], an AI assistant for the team. This call is recorded so we get your details right.”
• In all-party states the recording announcement can't be switched off. In Canada and one-party states the owner can switch it off, but it's on by default and we recommend leaving it on.
• If a caller says “don't record this,” recording stops and the call carries on.
• Transcripts are deleted after the owner's retention period (30 to 365 days).