{
  "attribution": "The Insurance Investigator's Playbook — theclaimsplaybook.net",
  "jurisdiction": "MA",
  "name": "Massachusetts",
  "question": "Does recording a conversation in Massachusetts require one party's consent or all parties' consent?",
  "rule": "notice",
  "ruleLabel": "Notice, not consent",
  "commonlyClassifiedAs": "all-party (two-party) consent",
  "commonLabelIsMisleading": true,
  "summary": "Massachusetts turns on whether the recording was secret, not on whether the other side agreed: tell the participants and you may record.",
  "nuance": "The Massachusetts test is SECRECY, not consent. Ch. 272 § 99 defines interception as to 'secretly hear, secretly record', so an openly disclosed recording is lawful even over a party's objection (Commonwealth v. Jackson — actual knowledge is enough), while a participant's secret recording is a crime (Commonwealth v. Hyde). Unlike most states the statute has no expectation-of-privacy limit, so it reaches recordings made in public places.",
  "nuanceIsEditorial": true,
  "nuanceVerified": false,
  "casesCited": [
    {
      "name": "Commonwealth v. Jackson",
      "verdict": "verified",
      "citation": "370 Mass. 502",
      "allCitations": [
        "349 N.E.2d 337",
        "370 Mass. 502",
        "1976 Mass. LEXIS 1007"
      ],
      "court": "Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court",
      "year": 1976,
      "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/2129303/commonwealth-v-jackson/",
      "holdingVerified": false
    },
    {
      "name": "Commonwealth v. Hyde",
      "verdict": "verified",
      "citation": "434 Mass. 594",
      "allCitations": [
        "434 Mass. 594",
        "750 N.E.2d 963",
        "2001 Mass. LEXIS 391"
      ],
      "court": "Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court",
      "year": 2001,
      "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6578324/commonwealth-v-hyde/",
      "holdingVerified": false
    }
  ],
  "caseLawVerified": true,
  "caseHoldingsVerified": false,
  "caseLawNote": "Each decision named in `nuance` was checked against a court record on CourtListener: it exists and carries the citation given. What the decision is said to HOLD is our reading and has not been verified.",
  "statute": "Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 272, § 99",
  "federalFloor": {
    "statute": "18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)",
    "rule": "one-party",
    "url": "https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2511",
    "note": "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."
  },
  "verification": {
    "status": "verified",
    "statusLabel": "Verified against the government source",
    "verifiedOn": "2026-09-21",
    "sourceUrl": "https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter272/Section99",
    "sourcePublisher": "Massachusetts General Court",
    "sourceTier": "government",
    "canDetectChange": true,
    "recheckCadence": "weekly",
    "consideredStaleAfter": "90 days",
    "methodUrl": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/method"
  },
  "disclaimer": "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.",
  "citation": {
    "permalink": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/recording-consent/MA",
    "title": "Massachusetts recording consent law",
    "publisher": "The Insurance Investigator's Playbook",
    "methodUrl": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/method",
    "termsUrl": "https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/terms",
    "attributionRequired": true,
    "aiTrainingPermitted": false,
    "aiSearchPermitted": true,
    "citationText": "\"Massachusetts recording consent law\", The Insurance Investigator's Playbook, https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/recording-consent/MA",
    "citationMarkdown": "[Massachusetts recording consent law](https://theclaimsplaybook.net/law/recording-consent/MA) — The Insurance Investigator's Playbook"
  }
}