Recording Law for Employers & Businesses in Indiana

Indiana lets you record customer phone calls, texts, emails, and other electronic communications as long as at least one person in the conversation consents. That’s because Indiana is a one-party consent state for electronic communications. The law covers calls made over traditional phone lines, VoIP, and messages sent by email or text. You don’t need to tell the customer you’re recording, but if you do, it can help avoid disputes later. The rule comes from Indiana’s wiretap statute, which defines "electronic communication" to include transmissions by wire, radio, or electromagnetic systems. Indiana Code § 35-31.5-2-110 lists "oral communication" as something that can qualify as an electronic communication when transmitted by those systems — like a phone call — but ordinary face-to-face speech that isn’t transmitted this way isn’t covered at all. The key point for employers is that if the conversation travels over a phone line or network, one-party consent is enough. The penalty for unlawful interception is a Level 5 felony under Ind. Code § 35-33.5-5-5, and people can sue for damages under Ind. Code § 35-33.5-5-4.

Recording in-person conversations in Indiana is unrestricted. Indiana’s wiretap law only applies to "electronic communications," which are defined as transmissions by wire, radio, or electromagnetic systems. An ordinary face-to-face conversation isn’t transmitted this way, so it doesn’t fall under the law at all. That means you can record customer interactions in person without telling anyone. The only Indiana statute that mentions cameras is about placing unattended equipment on someone else’s private property without consent — it doesn’t stop you from wearing a live camera or bodycam while you talk to someone. One Indiana appeals court decision, Whitt v. Town of New Carlisle, No. 20A-CT-2279, 2021 WL 2010143 (Ind. Ct. App. May 20, 2021), supports this reading, though it’s not binding. Indiana’s wiretap statute is scoped by the medium of transmission, not by a reasonable-expectation-of-privacy analysis, so the public or private nature of the setting does not change the outcome. The bottom line: if the conversation isn’t happening over a phone line or network, you don’t need anyone’s consent to record it.

Yes. Silent video-only recording using smartglasses, bodycams, or similar devices is unrestricted in Indiana. The wiretap law only covers "interception" of "electronic communications," which are transmissions by wire, radio, or electromagnetic systems. A live, attended camera worn by an employee doesn’t intercept any transmission — it just captures what’s happening in front of the wearer. Indiana’s law against unauthorized photography and surveillance, Ind. Code § 35-46-8.5-1, only bans leaving unattended cameras on someone else’s private property without consent; it does not restrict a person from wearing a live/attended body camera anywhere. So if your staff wear smartglasses to document customer service, inventory checks, or safety incidents, you’re not breaking Indiana’s recording laws by doing so. The statute’s text is clear on this point, and no Indiana appellate decision has been found applying it to a body-camera fact pattern.

Indiana has no special rule for recording inside someone’s home. The law that bans placing unattended cameras on another person’s private property, Ind. Code § 35-46-8.5-1, only applies to covert, unattended equipment left behind without consent. If you or your employee are present and recording openly — whether in a customer’s home, your own office, or a public place — that’s not restricted by Indiana’s recording laws. There’s no heightened consent requirement just because the conversation is inside a home. The only exception is if you secretly plant a camera and leave it running when you’re not there, which is a separate offense. For normal, attended recording during a customer visit, Indiana law doesn’t impose extra rules based on location. No statute gives a stricter rule for recording inside one’s own home; if anything the opposite structure exists.

You have a First Amendment right to record police officers performing their duties in public, according to federal court rulings that apply in Indiana. The Seventh Circuit recognized this right in ACLU of Illinois v. Alvarez, 679 F.3d 583 (7th Cir. 2012), and reaffirmed it in Nicodemus v. City of South Bend, 137 F.4th 654 (7th Cir. 2025), holding that recording is a content-neutral, reasonable time/place/manner restriction consistent with the First Amendment. Indiana also has a state law that makes it a crime to stand within 25 feet of a law enforcement officer after being ordered to stop, Ind. Code § 35-44.1-2-14, but that law is currently blocked by a federal court while legal challenges play out. As of mid-2026, the 25-foot buffer law remains under injunction in Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press v. Rokita, No. 24-2927 (7th Cir. Aug. 5, 2025), and is not being enforced against people recording police in public. Indiana enacted a second buffer statute, Ind. Code § 35-44.1-2-15 (effective July 1, 2025), which conditions a stop-approaching order on the officer’s reasonable belief the person’s presence will interfere with duties; this statute is not covered by the injunction and remains in effect. So while the first buffer law technically exists, it’s not active right now. The safer practice is to keep at least 25 feet away from active police activity unless you’re directly involved in the situation, to avoid any risk of enforcement while the litigation continues.

Starting January 1, 2026, Indiana’s Indiana Consumer Data Protection Act (INCDPA) takes effect, creating new obligations for businesses that process biometric data such as voiceprints. Under the INCDPA, "biometric data" is defined at Ind. Code § 24-15-2-4 as data generated by automatic measurements of an individual’s biological characteristics used to identify a specific individual, but the statute explicitly excludes raw audio recordings from this definition. Only a derived voiceprint template used to uniquely identify a person counts as "biometric data" under the statute. The INCDPA applies only if, during a calendar year, a controller either processes personal data of at least 100,000 Indiana residents, or processes personal data of at least 25,000 Indiana residents and derives more than 50% of gross revenue from the sale of personal data (Ind. Code § 24-15-1-1). If your business meets the threshold, you must obtain opt-in consent before processing voiceprints as "sensitive data" under Ind. Code § 24-15-4-1. "Consent" is defined at Ind. Code § 24-15-2-7 as a clear affirmative act signifying freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous agreement. The INCDPA is enforced exclusively by the Attorney General (Ind. Code § 24-15-10-1), with a mandatory 30-day cure period before suit (Ind. Code § 24-15-10-3) and civil penalties capped at $7,500 per violation (Ind. Code § 24-15-10-2). There is no private right of action under the statute (Ind. Code § 24-15-10-4). For businesses below the applicability threshold, Indiana’s general recording laws remain the controlling framework.

Imagine a retail employee wearing smartglasses documents a heated exchange with a customer who claims a product is defective. The employee keeps the glasses on and records the conversation openly as they walk through the store aisle. Under Indiana law, this is allowed. The conversation is in person, not transmitted by wire or electromagnetic system, so it’s outside the wiretap statute. The smartglasses are worn openly, so they’re not unattended equipment left on someone else’s property. The recording captures the dispute for liability protection and training, without needing the customer’s consent. This kind of routine documentation is a common and lawful practice in Indiana workplaces. Indiana has no statute giving a stricter rule for recording inside one’s own home; if anything the opposite structure exists. The only Indiana statute that specifically regulates cameras, Ind. Code § 35-46-8.5-1, criminalizes knowingly placing a camera or electronic surveillance equipment that records images or data of any kind while unattended on the private property of another person without the consent of the owner or tenant, and does not restrict a person recording inside their own home or wearing a live/attended body camera anywhere.