Consent, when you take notes on an interview
Written for recruiters, not lawyers. A line you can actually say out loud, which US states need both parties to agree, what changes in the UK and EU, and a notice you can paste into a calendar invite.
This is not legal advice. It is a summary of commonly cited rules, written to help you ask a better question of someone qualified. Recording and notice law differs by country, by US state, and sometimes by what is being recorded. If you interview across several jurisdictions, get your own advice once and write it down.
Start here: say something
Almost every practical problem in this area disappears if the candidate is told. Not a clause in an email they did not read — a sentence at the start of the call, in your own voice, that gives them the chance to object.
The read-aloud line
"Before we start — I use a tool on my side that transcribes my notes as we talk, so I can pay attention to you instead of typing. It stays on my computer. Let me know if you would rather I did not."
It works because it is true, it is short, and it ends with a real offer. If they say they would rather you did not, press pause and take notes by hand. That is a two-second decision, not a negotiation.
The distinction that matters in the United States
US wiretap law splits into one-party consent (someone in the conversation agreeing is enough — and you are in it) and all-party consent, sometimes called two-party, where everyone has to agree. Most states are one-party. A minority are not, and a few of those are large.
States commonly treated as all-party
| State | Notes commonly cited |
|---|---|
| California | All parties. The best known, and the one most often cited in recruiting. |
| Connecticut | All parties for civil liability. |
| Delaware | Statutes conflict; treated as all-party in practice. |
| Florida | All parties. |
| Illinois | All parties for private conversations. |
| Maryland | All parties. |
| Massachusetts | All parties, and notably strict about secret recording. |
| Michigan | Read as all-party by many practitioners. |
| Montana | Notice to all parties required. |
| Nevada | All parties for telephone conversations. |
| New Hampshire | All parties. |
| Oregon | All parties for in-person conversations. |
| Pennsylvania | All parties. |
| Washington | All parties. |
Two practical points that catch people out. First, when the two people are in different states, the stricter rule is the safe assumption — and in a phone screen you often do not know where the candidate is sitting. Second, the recruiter's own location is not the only thing that matters. Both of those argue for the same conclusion: read the line every time, everywhere, and the question stops arising.
United Kingdom and European Union
The framing is different. The question is less "did they consent to being recorded" and more "do you have a lawful basis for processing this personal data, and did you tell them you were doing it". In practice, for recruitment:
- Tell them, before or at the start. Transparency is the obligation that bites first, and it is the easiest to meet.
- Have a reason and keep it narrow. Interview notes to assess a candidate for a role they applied to is a legitimate interest that is straightforward to explain. Building a general database of everything anyone ever said is not.
- Do not rely on consent as your basis if you can avoid it. Consent has to be freely given, and a candidate in an interview is not in a free position to refuse. That is precisely why the read-aloud line offers a genuine alternative.
- Keep it as long as you need it and no longer. Decide a retention period for interview notes and apply it.
- Be ready to answer a request. A candidate can ask what you hold about them. Know where the files are.
A notice for the calendar invite
Saying it aloud is the part that matters. Putting it in writing beforehand removes the surprise, which makes the spoken line land better.
Paste into the invite or the confirmation email:
"So I can focus on the conversation rather than on typing, I use a note-taking tool during interviews that transcribes my notes on my own computer. The notes are used to write up your application and are not shared beyond our team and the client for this role. Nothing joins the call and there is no separate recording. If you would prefer I did not use it, just tell me at the start and I will take notes by hand."
Four things worth having as policy
- Read the line every time. Not "in the states that need it" — every time. Then nobody has to remember which list a candidate is on.
- Know where the pause button is. If a candidate says something they immediately wish they had not, the right response is to pause, not to promise to delete it later.
- Decide how long you keep notes. Write the number down. Ninety days after the role closes is a common answer.
- Say who sees it. "Our team and the client for this role" is a real answer. "Nobody" is not, and a candidate can tell.
How Interview Signal handles this
- Every role carries a consent line, generated for that role and editable so it sounds like you. It is on the screen before the interview starts.
- The recruiter records which they did — read the notice aloud, or judged it not required where they are — and that choice is saved in the interview file.
- Pause capture is a button that is always visible. Pausing stops both audio lanes and shows a banner that does not go away until capture resumes.
- There is no recording. Audio is transcribed as the call runs and never written to a file. The transcript stays on the recruiter's computer.
Get the printable version
A short, printable PDF with the read-aloud line, the state table and the template notice, made to sit on a desk. We email it and we do not add you to a mailing list.