Is New York a one-party consent state?

§ 250.05 makes eavesdropping, which includes wiretapping, a class E felony. § 250.00(1) defines wiretapping as recording a phone call by someone other than the sender or receiver without the consent of either one, so a party to the call may record it.

New York is a one-party consent state, so the penalty applies to recording a call you are not a party to when neither the sender nor the receiver has consented (§ 250.00(1)). Eavesdropping is a class E felony, punishable by up to 4 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 or double the defendant's gain (§§ 250.05, 70.00(2)(e), 80.00(1)). A corporation can be fined up to $80,000 (§ 80.10(1)(a)). New York's eavesdropping law does not give the person recorded a right to sue, though federal law does for this kind of interception (18 U.S.C. § 2520).

Outbound calls that use an AI voice need the called party's prior express consent, unless the call is for an emergency or fits an FCC exemption. AI-voice calls that include telemarketing need prior express written consent. The FCC ruled in February 2024 (FCC 24-17) that an AI-generated voice is an artificial voice under the TCPA, so these calls must also identify the caller and, for telemarketing, offer a way to opt out.

Federal rules allow telemarketing calls from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the called party's local time. Some states set a shorter window, listed below when they do.

New York limits telemarketing to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the customer's location unless the customer agrees to another time. Within 30 seconds of the start of each telemarketing sales call, the caller must give its name and who it calls for, offer to add the number to the seller's do-not-call list, and say whether the call is being recorded (§ 399-z(2)). Sales calls that deliver a prerecorded message need the customer's signed written agreement first (§ 399-z(6)), and calls to numbers on the national do-not-call registry are barred (§ 399-z(5)).

A device that dials stored numbers and plays a prerecorded message without an operator must state the nature of the call and who it is for at the start, give an address and phone number at the end, and disconnect when either side hangs up (§ 399-p(1)(a), (3)). Callers may not block caller ID (§ 399-p(6-a)). A person who gets a call that breaks the identification or disconnect rules can sue for actual damages or $50, whichever is higher, and up to 3 times actual damages, capped at $1,000, if the violation was willful (§ 399-p(9)). Caller ID blocking carries civil penalties of up to $2,000 instead (§ 399-p(8)).