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Indiana 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 7, 2026. · 23 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content

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

Updates

Corrected the description of State v. Lombardo to remove an unsupported claim that it was the Indiana Supreme Court's first construction of the wiretap chapter.

Corrected four legal errors verified against the official Indiana Code and the full text of State v. Lombardo: device-free peeping does escalate to a Level 6 felony on a prior unrelated conviction under Ind. Code 35-45-4-5(c), public and aerial voyeurism also escalate when the image is published, posted online, or transmitted to another person under subsections (e) and (h), the Lombardo decision is a ruling that the Wiretap Act is constitutional that reversed a dismissal and remanded rather than a finding that the defendant violated the Act, and the page now names Ind. Code 35-44.1-2-14 and 35-44.1-2-15, the 25-foot encroachment offenses a person recording Indiana police can actually be charged under.

Corrected two statutory inaccuracies: Indiana's electronic-communication definition (Ind. Code 35-31.5-2-110) lists oral communication as covered content and excludes in-person speech only because it is not transmitted by wire, radio, or an electromagnetic/photo-optical system, not because of a nonexistent 'oral communication' exclusion clause; and law-enforcement body-cam/dash-cam retention under Ind. Code 5-14-3-5.3 is 190 days for local agencies and 280 days for state agencies, extending to 2 years on a requestor's notice or complaint, not automatically for death, injury, or deadly-force incidents.

Independently fact-checked against the cited primary sources

Governing law re-checked for recent changes

Competitive gap-check audit against top-ranking competitor content: corrected two wrong Indiana Public Law citations verified against the Indiana General Assembly's own bill-tracking records. HEA 1047 of 2024 is Pub. L. 79-2024, not the previously stated Pub. L. 117-2024. HEA 1133 of 2024 is Pub. L. 81-2024, not the previously stated Pub. L. 83-2024. Both bill numbers, subject matter, and July 1, 2024 effective dates were already correct; only the Public Law numbers were wrong. Added Kearney v. Salomon Smith Barney, Inc., 39 Cal.4th 95, 137 P.3d 914 (Cal. 2006) to the interstate call section as persuasive (not binding) authority for the existing 'follow the strictest state' guidance, since no Indiana court has ruled on the choice-of-law question for interstate call recording. All other facts on the page independently confirmed accurate.

Reviewed and approved by an editor

Audit fix: corrected voyeurism penalty table (IC 35-45-4-5). Camera-based peeping under subsection (b) is a Level 6 felony as the base offense, not a Class A misdemeanor. Class A misdemeanor base applies to public voyeurism (subsection d) and aerial voyeurism (subsection g), which escalate to Level 6 only with a prior unrelated conviction under this section (or dissemination for aerial). At-a-glance table updated to match. Restructured for readability: added AEO lede, condensed at-a-glance table, reorganized core sections (in-person, phone, hidden cameras, penalties, police), compressed special topics to single tight paragraphs each, added in-depth guide index, refreshed FAQ to 8 plain-language questions. All other facts confirmed: Level 5 felony, 1-6 years, 3-year advisory, $10,000 fine, $100/day or $1,000 civil floor, plus punitives and fees, 2-year SOL, HEA 1047 and HEA 1133 effective dates (July 1, 2024).

Refresh: Replaced broken KeyTakeaways block (was rendering H2 section titles instead of fact statements) with seven fact-statement takeaways anchored to verified primary law. Corrected criminal interception cite to Ind. Code 35-33.5-5-5 (Level 5 felony, 1 to 6 years, up to $10,000 fine under Ind. Code 35-50-2-6(b)); pre-refresh draft used the wrong section and the wrong felony level. Corrected civil cause of action cite to Ind. Code 35-33.5-5-4 with the correct $100 per day or $1,000 minimum (whichever is greater) liquidated-damages floor and 2-year statute of limitations. Reframed wiretap-chapter scope as transmitted-only under Ind. Code 35-31.5-2-110, with face-to-face oral communication expressly excluded from the 'electronic communication' definition. Added Indiana HEA 1133 of 2024 (Pub. L. 83-2024, effective July 1, 2024) deepfake elections civil cause of action and Indiana HEA 1047 of 2024 (Pub. L. 117-2024, effective July 1, 2024) AI intimate-image expansion of Ind. Code 35-45-4-8. Added ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez, 679 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2012) as the controlling First Amendment record-the-police authority for the Seventh Circuit (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin). Updated FCC One-to-One Consent Rule (FCC 24-24) status to vacated by 11th Circuit Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC (mandate Apr. 30, 2025); removed any reliance on stale 47 C.F.R. 64.501 (which was removed effective Nov. 20, 2017). Added NLRB Stericycle 372 NLRB No. 113 (Aug. 2, 2023) plus GC 25-05 (Feb. 2025) plus GC 25-07 (June 26, 2025) workplace overlay. Added federal TAKE IT DOWN Act (Pub. L. 119-12, signed May 19, 2025; covered-platform notice-and-takedown obligation effective May 19, 2026). Noted Indiana's 2014 transition from Class A/B/C/D to Level 1 to 6 felony classification (HEA 1006-2013) so readers understand stale 'Class D felony' citations elsewhere.

Refresh: Replaced broken KeyTakeaways block (was rendering H2 section titles instead of fact statements) with seven fact-statement takeaways anchored to verified primary law. Corrected criminal interception cite to Ind. Code 35-33.5-5-5 (Level 5 felony, 1 to 6 years, up to $10,000 fine under Ind. Code 35-50-2-6(b)); pre-refresh draft used the wrong section and the wrong felony level. Corrected civil cause of action cite to Ind. Code 35-33.5-5-4 with the correct $100 per day or $1,000 minimum (whichever is greater) liquidated-damages floor and 2-year statute of limitations. Reframed wiretap-chapter scope as transmitted-only under Ind. Code 35-31.5-2-110, which covers oral communication only when it is transmitted by wire, radio, or an electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photo-optical system, so unmediated face-to-face speech falls outside the definition. Added Indiana HEA 1133 of 2024 (Pub. L. 81-2024, effective July 1, 2024) [deepfake](/us-laws/deepfake-laws) elections civil cause of action and Indiana HEA 1047 of 2024 (Pub. L. 79-2024, effective July 1, 2024) AI intimate-image expansion of Ind. Code 35-45-4-8. Added ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez, 679 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2012) as the controlling First Amendment record-the-police authority for the Seventh Circuit (Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin). Updated FCC One-to-One Consent Rule (FCC 24-24) status to vacated by 11th Circuit Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC (mandate Apr. 30, 2025); removed any reliance on stale 47 C.F.R. 64.501 (which was removed effective Nov. 20, 2017). Added NLRB Stericycle 372 NLRB No. 113 (Aug. 2, 2023) plus GC 25-05 (Feb. 2025) plus GC 25-07 (June 25, 2025) workplace overlay. Added federal TAKE IT DOWN Act (Pub. L. 119-12, signed May 19, 2025; covered-platform notice-and-takedown obligation effective May 19, 2026). Noted Indiana's 2014 transition from Class A/B/C/D to Level 1 to 6 felony classification (HEA 1006-2013) so readers understand stale 'Class D felony' citations elsewhere.

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

Sources and References

  1. iga.in.gov.gov
  2. iga.in.gov.gov
  3. iga.in.gov.gov
  4. iga.in.gov.gov
  5. in.gov.gov
  6. iga.in.gov.gov
  7. media.ca7.uscourts.gov.gov
  8. iga.in.gov.gov
  9. iga.in.gov.gov
  10. in.gov.gov
  11. iga.in.gov.gov
  12. in.gov.gov
  13. iga.in.gov.gov
  14. uscode.house.gov.gov
  15. justice.gov.gov
  16. nlrb.gov.gov
  17. nlrb.gov.gov
  18. ftc.gov.gov
  19. congress.gov.gov
  20. docs.fcc.gov.gov
  21. fcc.gov.gov
  22. federalregister.gov.gov
  23. ecfr.gov.gov
  24. Ind. Code 35-44.1-2-14, Unlawful encroachment on an investigation (25-foot buffer, Class C misdemeanor; added by P.L.67-2023)(iga.in.gov)
  25. Ind. Code 35-44.1-2-15, Unlawful encroachment on a law enforcement officer (25-foot buffer, Class C misdemeanor; added by P.L.4-2025)(iga.in.gov)
  26. State v. Lombardo, 738 N.E.2d 653 (Ind. 2000) (full opinion: Wiretap Act held constitutional, trial court dismissal reversed and remanded)(courtlistener.com)
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