Recording Law for Phone & Video Calls in South Carolina

South Carolina lets you record a phone call or video call if you are part of the conversation. The law treats phone calls, video calls (Zoom, FaceTime, Teams), and in-person talks the same: you only need your own consent, not everyone else’s. The rule comes from the state’s wiretap statute, which says it’s legal for a person to intercept a conversation when they are a party to it or when one party has agreed in advance. The statute’s exact wording is: 'It is lawful under this chapter for a person not acting under color of law to intercept a wire, oral, or electronic communication where the person is a party to the communication or where one of the parties to the communication has given prior consent to the interception.' This rule applies whether you’re calling from your home, office, or on the go.

South Carolina’s wiretap law does not protect statements made at public meetings. The law defines an 'oral communication' as something uttered when the speaker 'exhibits an expectation that the communication is not subject to interception under circumstances justifying the expectation,' and it specifically excludes 'any public oral communication uttered at a public meeting.' In plain terms, if the talk is part of an official public gathering—like a city council session or school board meeting—it isn’t covered by the privacy protections. Outside those settings, the one-party consent rule still applies, so you can record your own conversations even in public places like parks or sidewalks, as long as you are part of the chat.

South Carolina’s wiretap law only restricts capturing the content of a conversation—meaning the words being spoken. If you record video without audio, the law doesn’t apply at all. The statute defines what it regulates as 'wire, oral, or electronic communication,' which all involve sound or data transmission. Video-only recording falls outside those definitions. However, a separate state law, § 16-17-470, makes it a crime to use video or audio equipment to spy on or invade someone’s privacy 'on or about the premises of another.' That law has two operative parts: subsection A criminalizes covert recording for the purpose of spying or invading privacy without any sexual motive, while subsection B (voyeurism) requires both sexual gratification and a reasonable expectation of privacy. Video-only recording in public places generally isn’t covered by either part, but subsection A could reach covert non-sexual video recording inside a private residence without the occupant’s knowledge.

South Carolina has no specific law banning or allowing the recording of on-duty police officers in public. But a federal appeals court ruling applies here. The Fourth Circuit, which covers South Carolina, has said that livestreaming or recording police officers while they perform official duties in public is protected speech under the First Amendment. In Sharpe v. Winterville Police Dep’t, 59 F.4th 674 (4th Cir. 2023), the court held that the plaintiff lacked standing to seek a stand-alone 'right to record' because the challenged policy barred only livestreaming, and it granted qualified immunity to the individual officers because the right was not clearly established at the time. The bottom line: recording your own interaction with a police officer in a public place is allowed, but the situation can still be complicated by time, place, or manner rules set by individual departments.

Recording someone without their consent when the law requires it can lead to serious consequences. Under South Carolina’s wiretap statute, it’s a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, with a misdemeanor carve-out for certain unencrypted radio communications. The law also allows the person whose conversation was recorded to sue for damages. They can recover the greater of $500 per day of the violation or $25,000, plus attorney fees and punitive damages if the court allows. These penalties apply even if the recording was made in good faith or for a legitimate purpose.

South Carolina’s wiretap statute is not the only law that can restrict recording. Section 16-17-470 criminalizes covert recording for privacy invasion or sexual gratification. Subsection A makes it a crime to use video or audio equipment to spy on or invade someone’s privacy 'on or about the premises of another,' with no sexual motive requirement. Subsection B (voyeurism) requires both sexual gratification and a reasonable expectation of privacy. Violations of subsection A are punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000, while subsection B carries up to five years and a $5,000 fine. These penalties apply regardless of whether the recording also violates the wiretap statute, and they are triggered by the act of covertly recording in a private place, even if the recording party is present.

Imagine you’re a freelance consultant in South Carolina and you want to record a Zoom meeting with a new client to make sure you don’t miss any details. Because you are part of the call, South Carolina’s one-party consent rule allows you to record it without telling the client. The law treats video calls the same as phone calls, so the same rule applies. Just be careful not to record anyone outside the call or share the recording without permission. If you later use the recording in a way that violates the client’s trust or another law, you could face other consequences—but the recording itself is legal under state law.