Delaware

One-party consent

Delaware is a one-party consent jurisdiction: a participant in the conversation may record it without telling the others.

The part that catches people out

Our reading, not verified text. Everything in this section is editorial judgment about how the statute works. Unlike the statute above, the reading itself has not been checked against a source.

Two Delaware statutes point in opposite directions on the same act. The wiretap chapter, § 2402(c)(4), is plainly one-party. But § 1335(a)(4) (violation of privacy, a class A misdemeanour) separately reaches intercepting a private conversation 'without the consent of all parties thereto'. Courts have followed the wiretap chapter, but the conflict is real and unresolved on the face of the code.

Where this comes from

Federal floor

Federal law permits recording with one party's consent unless the recording is made to commit a crime or tort. Federal law is the FLOOR; a state may and many do require more. Where an interstate call touches two states with different rules, the safe assumption is the stricter one. See 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d).

Reference information, not legal advice. Statutes change and courts read them differently; confirm the current text with the linked primary source and counsel licensed in the jurisdiction before relying on it.

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