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Utah 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. · 35 primary sources cited on this page. How we verify our legal content

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

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Utah is a one-party consent state under Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4. You may record any wire, oral, or electronic communication you are a party to, or where any one party has given prior consent, as long as the recording is not for a criminal or tortious purpose. The oral communication definition under 77-23a-3 requires a reasonable expectation of privacy, so conversations in public spaces are generally outside the statute.

Can I record a phone call in Utah?

Yes, if you are a party to the call. Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4 requires only one party's consent, which can be your own. You do not have to notify the other party. For calls touching California, Washington, or Nevada (all all-party or hybrid all-party for phone calls), the conservative posture is to comply with the stricter state's rule and obtain consent before recording.

What is the criminal penalty for illegally recording in Utah?

Illegal recording is presumptively a third-degree felony under 77-23a-4: up to 5 years in prison under 76-3-203(3) and up to a $5,000 fine under 76-3-301. A narrow first-offense carve-out for unscrambled radio interceptions reduces the charge to a Class B misdemeanor (cellular/paging) or Class A misdemeanor (other radio types), but only if the interception is also non-tortious and non-commercial. Standard phone calls and in-person conversations fall outside that carve-out.

Can I sue someone for recording me without consent in Utah?

Yes. Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-11 creates a private cause of action, though the damages award is discretionary rather than automatic. Under 77-23a-11(3)(b) the court may assess whichever is greater of actual damages plus the violator's profits, or statutory damages of $100 per day of violation or $10,000. A lower tier at 77-23a-11(3)(a) sets statutory damages of $50 to $500 for a first violation involving unscrambled private satellite video or certain FCC Part 74 Subpart D radio communications. You can also seek punitive damages, attorney fees, and injunctive relief. The two-year limitations period is a discovery rule: it starts when you first had a reasonable opportunity to learn about the recording. A prior criminal conviction is not required.

Can I record a Utah police officer?

Yes. Irizarry v. Yehia, 38 F.4th 1282 (10th Cir. 2022), recognized the clearly established First Amendment right to film police performing public duties as of May 26, 2019. An officer cannot lawfully seize your phone or demand deletion of footage because you were filming in a public space. Do not physically interfere with police activity or trespass to improve your angle. Utah has no standalone right-to-record-police statute; enforcement runs through 42 U.S.C. 1983.

Can I record from Utah to California?

California is an all-party consent state under Cal. Penal Code 632. The conservative approach for a Utah-to-California call is to treat the call as all-party: notify the California party at the start and obtain consent on the record. Federal ECPA at 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d) is one-party but does not preempt stricter state law. The same all-party posture applies to Utah-to-Washington calls under RCW 9.73.030.

Are Ring doorbells and nanny cams legal in Utah?

Generally yes, with limits. A Ring doorbell capturing street-side audio does not trigger the wiretap statute because there is no privacy expectation in public street speech. A camera positioned to capture audio inside a home where guests have a privacy expectation can create interception exposure under 77-23a-4. Installing or using a hidden camera in a private place without the consent of the people entitled to privacy there is a class B misdemeanor under Utah Code Ann. 76-12-302, whether or not audio is captured. Aiming a camera at a bathroom, locker room, or dressing room can additionally be voyeurism under 76-12-307, which requires that the recording be made for the purpose of viewing a part of the body as to which the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Can I record an HR meeting or my boss at work?

Yes, under Utah Code Ann. 77-23a-4, if you are a participant in the meeting. One-party consent applies. Your employer may have a no-recording policy; violating it is not a crime under 77-23a-4 but can lead to discipline or termination. NLRB Stericycle (372 NLRB No. 113, 2023) limits how broadly employers can write those policies: a policy must advance a legitimate business interest that cannot be served by a narrower rule.

Is making or distributing a deepfake illegal in Utah?

Yes for intimate-image deepfakes. Utah Code Ann. 76-5b-205 expressly covers AI-generated, digitally altered, or manipulated visual depictions of an identifiable person: Class A misdemeanor first offense, third-degree felony on recidivism, when the depicted person is an adult. If the depicted person is a child, the offense is aggravated to a third-degree felony for a first offense and a second-degree felony on recidivism. Authentic intimate-image distribution is at 76-5b-203. Election deepfakes require AI-content disclosure under 20A-11-1104 (SB 131, 2024), with a $1,000 civil penalty per violation. The federal TAKE IT DOWN Act adds a parallel federal criminal prohibition effective May 19, 2025.

Updates

Corrected the hidden-camera section: Utah's voyeurism statute (76-12-307) only reaches recordings made to view a part of the body the person expects to keep private, the general hidden-device statute (76-12-302, a class B misdemeanor with a private right of action) was added as the on-point law, and the 77-23a-11 civil damages are now described as discretionary rather than a guaranteed $10,000 floor.

Corrected an orphaned citation (an unrelated Consumer Privacy Act link repointed to the actual AI Policy Act chapter), updated the TAKE IT DOWN Act platform-compliance deadline language from future to past tense, and added the child-victim felony-aggravation tier under the deepfake statute (76-5b-205) to the FAQ.

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

Governing law re-checked for recent changes

Corrected the body-worn camera 'sole basis to dismiss' citation from 77-7a-104(11) (a subsection that does not exist) to the correct 77-7a-104(3).

Corrected the historical 2026-05-10 changelog entry's reference to a nonexistent '77-7a-104(11)' to the correct '77-7a-104(3)' (the actual no-sole-basis-for-dismissal subsection), matching the fix already made in the article body and the newer changelog entry.

Governing law re-checked for recent changes

Reviewed and approved by an editor

Restructured for readability: condensed 8,000-word page into core sections (in-person, phone calls, hidden cameras, penalties, police, special topics), pushed depth to in-depth index linking all 12 sub-pages. Preserved every statute, case, and penalty. Added compact penalties table. Condensed special topics to single tight paragraphs each. Added at-a-glance table and FAQ refreshed for AEO. Re-verified load-bearing facts (77-23a-4 one-party consent, third-degree felony, 77-23a-11 civil floor, 76-12-307 renumbering, Irizarry 10th Cir. 2022) against primary sources - no corrections required.

Major restructure anchored on the Utah Interception of Communications Act 77-23a-4 third-degree-felony presumptive baseline (up to 5 years, up to $5,000) with the narrow 77-23a-4(10)(b) Class B misdemeanor first-offense alternative enumerated as four cumulative conditions (first offense + non-tortious + non-commercial + radio-portion-cellular / cordless / public-band / non-encrypted private channel). Added 77-23a-11 civil cause of action with greater-of-three structure: actual damages plus violator's profits, or $100/day, or $10,000, plus punitive damages, reasonable attorney fees, reasonably incurred litigation costs, and preliminary equitable and declaratory relief; two-year discovery-rule statute of limitations; civil recovery does not require criminal conviction. Added 77-23a-5 use-and-disclosure parallel third-degree felony. Corrected Utah voyeurism citation to 76-9-702.7 per HB 21 (2025) Criminal Code Recodification framing. Distinguished 76-5b-205 counterfeit (AI-generated, deepfake) NCII from 76-5b-203 authentic NCII. Added correct Utah 2024 AI bills SB 131 (election synthetic-media at 20A-11-1104) and SB 149 (Utah AI Policy Act at Title 13 Chapter 72a) plus 2025 refinements HB 452 and SB 332. Added Tenth Circuit Frasier-then-Irizarry progression: Frasier v. Evans, 992 F.3d 1003 (10th Cir. 2021) governs incidents predating May 26, 2019; Irizarry v. Yehia, 38 F.4th 1282 (10th Cir. 2022) recognized the clearly-established First Amendment right to film police on or after that date. Added Utah body-worn camera framework at 77-7a-103 and 77-7a-104 with the 77-7a-104(11) no-sole-basis-for-dismissal qualifier. Reframed NLRB GC 25-05 as a housekeeping rescission (Stericycle remains controlling) and GC 25-07 as the narrow per se bar on surreptitious bargaining-session recording. Updated FCC 24-24 to vacated by 11th Cir. (Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC, panel decision Jan 24 2025, mandate Apr 30 2025) and removed the stale 47 C.F.R. 64.501 reference. Added TAKE IT DOWN Act federal compliance (Pub. L. 119-12, signed May 19, 2025; platform compliance May 19, 2026). Added Title 13 Chapter 10 disambiguation paragraph. Replaced commercial-codifier URLs throughout with le.utah.gov, utcourts.gov, ca10.uscourts.gov, uscode.house.gov, congress.gov, nlrb.gov, ftc.gov, fcc.gov, ecfr.gov, federalregister.gov, and media.ca11.uscourts.gov canonicals. Populated keywords array with 15 Utah-specific terms covering the modal cluster (phone, audio, call), the statute-cite anchors (77-23a-4, Utah Interception of Communications Act), and the deepfake / NCII / body-cam / hidden-camera variants.

Major restructure anchored on the Utah Interception of Communications Act 77-23a-4 third-degree-felony presumptive baseline (up to 5 years, up to $5,000) with the narrow 77-23a-4(10)(b) first-offense reduced-penalty carve-out. Added 77-23a-11 civil cause of action with greater-of-three structure plus punitive damages, attorney fees, litigation costs, and equitable relief; two-year discovery-rule SOL. Distinguished 76-5b-205 counterfeit NCII from 76-5b-203 authentic NCII. Added Utah 2024 AI bills SB 131 and SB 149 plus 2025 refinements HB 452 and SB 332. Added Tenth Circuit Frasier-then-Irizarry progression. Added Utah body-worn camera framework at 77-7a-103 and 77-7a-104(3). Reframed NLRB GC 25-05 as housekeeping rescission and GC 25-07 as narrow per se bar. Updated FCC 24-24 to vacated. Added TAKE IT DOWN Act. Added Title 13 Chapter 10 disambiguation. Replaced all commercial-codifier URLs with primary sources.

Added wearable recording devices section and related FAQs

Sources and References

  1. le.utah.gov.gov
  2. le.utah.gov.gov
  3. le.utah.gov.gov
  4. le.utah.gov.gov
  5. le.utah.gov.gov
  6. le.utah.gov.gov
  7. le.utah.gov.gov
  8. le.utah.gov.gov
  9. le.utah.gov.gov
  10. le.utah.gov.gov
  11. le.utah.gov.gov
  12. le.utah.gov.gov
  13. le.utah.gov.gov
  14. le.utah.gov.gov
  15. Utah Code Ann. Title 13 Chapter 72a -- Artificial Intelligence Policy Act(le.utah.gov).gov
  16. le.utah.gov.gov
  17. le.utah.gov.gov
  18. le.utah.gov.gov
  19. le.utah.gov.gov
  20. Utah H.B. 0021, "Criminal Code Recodification and Cross References" (2025 General Session, enrolled)(le.utah.gov).gov
  21. ca10.uscourts.gov.gov
  22. ca10.uscourts.gov.gov
  23. uscode.house.gov.gov
  24. uscode.house.gov.gov
  25. justice.gov.gov
  26. docs.fcc.gov.gov
  27. media.ca11.uscourts.gov.gov
  28. federalregister.gov.gov
  29. congress.gov.gov
  30. nlrb.gov.gov
  31. nlrb.gov.gov
  32. nlrb.gov.gov
  33. ftc.gov.gov
  34. ecfr.gov.gov
  35. utcourts.gov.gov
  36. Utah Code Ann. 76-12-302 -- Unlawful privacy violation(le.utah.gov)
  37. Utah Code Ann. 76-12-301 -- Definitions ("private place")(le.utah.gov)
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