In principle, and taking into account what the Spanish Constitution and Law 1/1982 on Civil Protection say about the right to honour, personal and family privacy and one`s own image, as well as data protection rules, we should not, in principle, capture third parties on the street without their consent. However, technology has made it easier for virtually anyone to record video or audio on the street, and the truth is that rarely does anyone ask for this permission before recording on public roads. These assumptions are complex and the legality of inclusion often depends on the circumstances in which it was made and the judges` interpretation of the law. According to ILP Abogados, recordings can be divided into «clean» or «other». That is, recordings when you are part of the conversation are considered your own, but recordings of others if you are not part of the conversation. Recording a call between you and your mom won`t be the same as recording your partner talking to someone else. As we have already established, if you are one of the interlocutors, it is legal to record a telephone conversation without having to obtain the consent of the other person, in fact there are phone call recording applications that we can configure to activate when you make or receive a call. Can I record a friend`s conversations with another person? My partner? To a colleague? No, absolutely. As we say, the recordings of others are always illegal because they violate the fundamental right to secrecy of communications, as we can read in article 18.3 of the Spanish Constitution: «The secrecy of communications is guaranteed, especially of postal, telegraphic and telephone communications, unless a judicial solution is reached». There are, of course, exceptions.
For example, third-party recordings could be taken as long as it is an investigation. Before getting into the main question of the legality of registrations, it is important to know that there are different types of registrations. This importance lies directly in their legality or illegality. The only exception allowed by law to record a telephone conversation in Colombia is if the person from whom the recording is obtained commits a crime such as extortion or harassment. It`s common to find fragments of conversations on social media, often with the aim of denouncing irregular behavior, so is it worth asking when it`s legal to record dialogue? However, it clarifies that the person who committed a crime was not Villarejo, but «the one who broadcast the recordings», although the commissioner may also «assume criminal responsibility for the broadcast of these conversations, but not for the recording». In a judgment, as in a quarrel of life, it is your word against mine. unless a document proves otherwise. With a mobile phone in our pocket, we (almost) all have the ability to record anyone in voice or video, whether or not they know that we are storing it for posterity. What can lead to criminal liability is the recording of a conversation of others or in which the person does not participate, if the interlocutors do not know that they are being recorded and have therefore not given their consent.
On the other hand, it is completely illegal to record conversations without attending unless you have prior permission from a judge to do so. What we cannot do unless we have judicial authorization to do so is to record other people`s conversations. This means that if you talk to a friend and I welcome you, it`s illegal. In summary, it can be said that an interlocutor records a conversation in which he intervenes is completely legal, but the disclosure of the same thing is not, because in this case, the person who discloses it, either one of the participants or another external agent, commits the crime, which is considered the disclosure of secrets or invasion of privacy. Lawyer Felipe Fernando Mateo Bueno explains that we can record all the conversations in which we are involved. Both in video and just in speech. Not only can we do that, but it is also legal from a legal point of view. I mean, if you and I talk and I record you, it`s legal. Even if I don`t warn you. The truth is that virtually anyone with a smartphone can record our voice or image without our consent, since it is very likely that we will not even realize that we are being recorded. However, just because something can be done does not mean that it is legal or completely legal to do so.
Smartphones have allowed most people to carry a recording device in our pockets, many of them even include a factory recorder app. This made recording conversations, yours and others, as easy as pulling out your cell phone, opening the app in question, and starting recording. But how legal is it to record conversations without consent? However, if the conversation is not recorded by one of the participants, but by a third party who has nothing to do with the conversation, the only possibility that it is valid for a trial is that it has been approved by a judge. If the registration has not been authorized, this is illegal and void evidence that cannot be taken into account when imposing a judgment. In short, it`s legal to record conversations without consent, regardless of the context of the conversation, as long as you`re part of the conversation, but you can`t post or broadcast that conversation. The Supreme Court clarified that, in accordance with Article 29(5) of the Colombian Political Constitution, evidence obtained in violation of due process guarantees is null and void. «The judge will exclude the practice or introduction of illegal evidence, including that practiced, alleged or obtained in violation of formal requirements,» he warned. It is important that participants in a conversation give their consent to the recording, as their rights to human dignity, privacy and privacy – including the protection of their communications – are protected by the Constitución.Si in which the conversation is recorded without the consent of the parties, this could constitute a criminal offence.