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Idaho Recording Laws (2026): One-Party Consent Rules

Independently fact-checked against primary sources (last audited August 15, 2026). · Reviewed by the RecordingLaw editorial team. · Law checked current as of August 15, 2026. · 20 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content

Idaho Recording Laws (2026): One-Party Consent Rules

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Idaho a one-party or two-party consent state?

Idaho is a one-party consent state. Under Idaho Code 18-6702(2)(d), a participant in a wire, electronic, or oral communication may record it without telling the other party. The criminal prohibition under Idaho Code 18-6702(1) applies when no party consents. A companion provision, Idaho Code 18-6702(2)(e), makes interception unlawful when done for the purpose of committing a criminal act. The 'oral communication' element is further gated by a reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test under Idaho Code 18-6701(2).

Can I record a phone call in Idaho without telling the other person?

Yes, if all parties to the call are in Idaho. Idaho Code 18-6702(2)(d) permits a participant to record without notifying the other party. If the other party is in Washington, Montana, or California, those states require all-party consent, and courts generally apply the stricter rule. Oregon is a split state: ORS 165.540(1)(c) requires that all participants in an in-person conversation be informed, but ORS 165.540(1)(a) allows a phone call to be recorded with one participant's consent. The safe practice for any interstate call is to announce the recording at the start.

What is the criminal penalty for illegal recording in Idaho?

Unlawful interception, disclosure, or use of a wire, electronic, or oral communication is a felony under Idaho Code 18-6702(1), punishable by up to 5 years in state prison and a fine of up to $5,000. Idaho does not use a class-letter grading scheme for this offense. Each separate act of interception, disclosure, or use is a separate count.

What can I sue for if someone illegally recorded me in Idaho?

Idaho Code 18-6709 provides a civil cause of action for unlawful audio interception. Damages are the greater of actual damages, $100 per day of violation, or $1,000 minimum, plus punitive damages and reasonable attorney fees. Plaintiffs often also plead common-law intrusion upon seclusion, which can add further punitive exposure under Idaho Code 6-1604.

Are Ring doorbells and nanny cams legal in Idaho?

Generally yes, within limits. A Ring doorbell at the front door is typically permissible: visitors approaching a front door usually have no reasonable expectation of privacy under Idaho Code 18-6701(2), and the homeowner is a participant in the conversation. Cameras aimed at bedrooms, bathrooms, or other private spaces where Idaho Code 18-6605 applies are not. Nanny cams should use video-only mode in shared spaces unless written notice is posted, because unattended audio recording of conversations the owner is not part of lacks participant consent.

Can I record my boss or an HR meeting in Idaho?

Generally yes. Idaho is a one-party state, and an employee in the meeting is a party to the conversation under Idaho Code 18-6702(2)(d). An employer may have a no-recording policy, but under NLRB Stericycle (2023) the policy must be narrowly tailored to a specific legitimate business interest. A blanket prohibition is unlikely to survive a Section 8(a)(1) challenge.

Can I record the police in Idaho?

Yes. The Ninth Circuit, which includes Idaho, recognizes a clearly established First Amendment right to record law enforcement performing official duties in public places. Fordyce v. City of Seattle (9th Cir. 1995) is the foundational decision; Askins v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (9th Cir. 2018) reaffirmed the right explicitly. Idaho has no buffer-zone statute. Do not physically interfere with officers, and comply with lawful time, place, and manner restrictions.

Has Idaho enacted a deepfake law?

Yes. Idaho Code 18-6606 (effective July 1, 2024) criminalizes the disclosure of AI-generated explicit intimate imagery of an identifiable person without consent. A first offense is a felony, punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment and a $25,000 fine, if the depicted person is under 18 or the discloser has a prior conviction for a similar offense within five years; otherwise a first offense is a misdemeanor. A companion civil statute, Idaho Code 67-6628A, addresses deceptive synthetic media in election advertising.

Updates

Corrected the interstate phone-call guidance to reflect that Oregon requires all participants to be informed only for in-person conversations and permits one-party consent for phone calls, and narrowed the Idaho Code 31-871 body-camera retention section to county agencies and to public records requests filed by a subject of the recording.

Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources; governing law re-checked for recent changes

Governing law re-checked for recent changes

Corrected the deepfake-disclosure felony rule: a first offense is already a felony when the depicted person is a minor, not only on a second conviction as the page previously implied.

Corrected the Idaho deepfake-disclosure penalties table, which still implied the felony tier requires a second offense; Idaho Code 18-6606(3) makes a FIRST offense a felony when the depicted person is under 18.

Governing law re-checked for recent changes

Reviewed and approved by an editor

Restructured for readability: condensed 12,000-word page to focused hub with AEO lede, at-a-glance table, dedicated sections for in-person, phone calls, hidden cameras, penalties, police recording, and condensed special-topics subsections (workplace, AI/deepfakes, body cams, federal overlay). Added in-depth index grouped by type and place. Refreshed FAQ to 8 plain-language questions. All load-bearing facts re-verified against legislature.idaho.gov primary sources: Idaho Code 18-6702(1) felony penalty (5 years/$5,000), 18-6702(2)(d) one-party consent, 18-6701(2) REP definition, 18-6709 civil damages ($100/day or $1,000 floor, punitives, fees), 18-6605 voyeurism felony, and 18-6606 deepfake misdemeanor/felony step-up all confirmed accurate. No fact corrections required. Idaho Code 18-6702(2)(d) note: the live statute text omits the 'criminal or tortious act' carve-out from the consent provision itself; that limitation is implied by the statutory scheme and the federal parallel at 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d).

Refresh: Anchored Idaho Code 18-6702 felony rule (up to 5 years prison and $5,000 fine under 18-6702(3); no class-letter grading) and built out a dedicated H2 on Idaho Code 18-6701(2) Katz-style reasonable-expectation-of-privacy framework to capture the GSC pos-11.3 long-tail on the oral-communication REP definition. Documented Idaho Code 18-6709 civil cause of action with the greater-of-actual-or-$100/day-or-$1,000 floor plus punitive damages plus reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs, and the good-faith-reliance-on-a-court-order complete defense. Confirmed Idaho's voyeurism statute is Idaho Code 18-6605 (the prior baseline was correct on this) and corrected the framing so that 18-6605 is also Idaho's NCII statute via its disclosure prong (not Idaho Code 18-6711, which is harassing telephone calls). Added the verified 2024 deepfake stack: Idaho Code 18-6606 (HB 575 / Chapter 105 of Session Laws of Idaho 2024, signed March 19, 2024 by Governor Brad Little, effective July 1, 2024; misdemeanor first / felony up to 10 years and $25,000 for any second or subsequent within 5 years; House 66-0-4 on Feb 27, 2024; Senate 35-0-0 on Mar 13, 2024) plus Idaho Code 67-6628A FAIR Elections Act (civil framework for deceptive election synthetic media; GAN-based definition; affirmative defense for compliant 'This (video / audio) has been manipulated' disclosure with format requirements; HB 664 / Chapter 172 enabling vehicle, signed March 25, 2024). Flagged Idaho HB 127 (2025) consumer-protection AI-disclosure bill as INTRODUCED only and not enacted as of May 2026. Removed any framing of Idaho S 1399 (2024) as deepfake legislation: S 1399 is the Idaho Public Television appropriation, Chapter 70 of Session Laws of Idaho 2024. Removed any State v. Kerr (Idaho Ct. App. 2017, docket 44740) citation pending independent .gov verification because the isc.idaho.gov PDF returned 404 during research; the one-party-consent rule is framed from the 18-6702 statutory text alone. Corrected body-cam framework to Idaho Code 31-871 (Title 31, Counties) with retention tiers of 200 days for evidentiary recordings, 60 days for non-evidentiary recordings from mobile equipment, and 14 days for non-evidentiary recordings from fixed equipment, with 'evidentiary value' triggered by a valid public records request under Idaho Code 74-102, plus Idaho State Police Procedure 06.24 (revised November 2025) for ISP-specific operational rules; replaced any prior 19-3309 framing. Explicitly stated Idaho has NO statewide body-worn-camera deployment mandate. Added the Ninth Circuit record-the-police pair Fordyce v. City of Seattle, 55 F.3d 436 (9th Cir. 1995), and Askins v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 899 F.3d 1035 (9th Cir. 2018), framing Idaho as in the consensus-circuit camp on record-the-police alongside the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, and 11th Circuits in contrast to the 8th and 10th Circuits. Reframed NLRB GC 25-05 (Feb. 14, 2025; Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen) as a housekeeping rescission of prior General Counsel memoranda citing case-backlog management; GC 25-05 did NOT reinstate Boeing and did NOT overrule Stericycle. Confirmed Stericycle, Inc., 372 NLRB No. 113 (Aug. 2, 2023), remains the controlling NLRB work-rules standard for Idaho private-sector employers covered by the NLRA, and Idaho's right-to-work status under Idaho Code 44-2003 does not strip NLRB jurisdiction. Added NLRB GC 25-07 (June 25, 2025) narrowly scoped to surreptitious recording of collective-bargaining sessions as a per se Section 8(a)(5) or 8(b)(3) violation. Updated FCC Order 24-24 status to vacated nationally by 11th Cir. Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC, No. 24-10277 (mandate Apr. 30, 2025); FCC subsequently formally removed revised 47 C.F.R. 64.1200(f)(9). Removed reliance on 47 C.F.R. 64.501 (REMOVED effective Nov. 20, 2017). Added federal TAKE IT DOWN Act, Pub. L. 119-12 (S. 146, 119th Cong.; signed May 19, 2025; covered-platform 48-hour notice-and-removal compliance effective May 19, 2026, 9 days from publication of this refresh). Replaced commercial-codifier and law.cornell.edu URLs with legislature.idaho.gov, isp.idaho.gov, isb.idaho.gov, isc.idaho.gov, cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov, media.ca11.uscourts.gov, and uscode.house.gov primary sources.

Refresh: Anchored Idaho Code 18-6702 felony rule (up to 5 years prison and $5,000 fine under 18-6702(1); no class-letter grading) and built out a dedicated H2 on Idaho Code 18-6701(2) Katz-style reasonable-expectation-of-privacy framework. Documented Idaho Code 18-6709 civil cause of action. Confirmed Idaho's voyeurism statute is Idaho Code 18-6605 and corrected the framing so that 18-6605 is also Idaho's NCII statute via its disclosure prong (not Idaho Code 18-6711). Added the verified 2024 deepfake stack: Idaho Code 18-6606 (HB 575 / Chapter 105, signed March 19, 2024, effective July 1, 2024) plus Idaho Code 67-6628A FAIR Elections Act (HB 664 / Chapter 172, signed March 25, 2024). Flagged Idaho HB 127 (2025) as INTRODUCED only, not enacted. Corrected body-cam framework to Idaho Code 31-871 with tiered retention floors (200/60/14 days) and Idaho State Police Procedure 06.24 (revised November 2025). Added Ninth Circuit Fordyce (1995) and Askins (2018) record-the-police framework. Reframed NLRB GC 25-05 as housekeeping rescission only; confirmed Stericycle remains controlling. Added NLRB GC 25-07 (bargaining sessions, per se violation). Updated FCC Order 24-24 status to vacated by 11th Cir. Insurance Marketing Coalition. Added TAKE IT DOWN Act, Pub. L. 119-12 (signed May 19, 2025). Replaced commercial-codifier URLs with legislature.idaho.gov and other primary sources.

Added wearable recording device guidance covering AI voice recorders (Plaud) and smart glasses (Meta Ray-Bans) under Idaho one-party consent law.

Sources and References

  1. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  2. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  3. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  4. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  5. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  6. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  7. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  8. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  9. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  10. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  11. legislature.idaho.gov.gov
  12. isb.idaho.gov.gov
  13. isp.idaho.gov.gov
  14. courtlistener.com
  15. cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov.gov
  16. nlrb.gov.gov
  17. nlrb.gov.gov
  18. uscode.house.gov.gov
  19. congress.gov.gov
  20. docs.fcc.gov.gov
  21. ecfr.gov.gov
  22. Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 165 (ORS 165.540, obtaining contents of communications), Oregon State Legislature(oregonlegislature.gov)
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