This just happened to me and I am a little shook. Very weird. I was talking to my friend in NYC and randomly this voice came on the line saying “this call is being recorded”
He heard it as well. We both have iPhones and were just talking over the PSTN. Wtf
This usually happens when the person you call is trying to record the call using Google’s “phone” app.
Yeah, sounds like a phone call recording app that is allowed to operate on the App Store under the condition that the recording is loudly announced.
I really hate Google dictating the use of two-party consent even in my one-party consent state. I have every right to record phone calls without having it play that message, but not the ability because of Google’s gatekeeping!
Can’t you use a non-google app to do it?
From https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/record-calls-on-your-android-phone :
Recording Limitations on Android
Google has never been particularly fond of call-recording apps for Android, at least not those from third parties. With Android 9, the company added limitations that prevented many apps from recording your phone conversations. The apps continued to work, but when you played the recording, you could only hear your end of the conversation—or complete silence.
Android 10 cracked down even further on these types of apps by blocking call recording via the microphone. In response, many app developers started tapping into Android’s Accessibility Service to record phone calls. But Google then updated its developer policy in April 2022 to state that it would not allow apps in the Play Store to use the accessibility service for call recording. That policy went into effect on May 11, 2022.
The company has even gone so far as to label call recording a type of spyware. “Behaviors that can be considered as spying on the user can also be flagged as spyware,” Google said in its developer policy. “For example, recording audio or recording calls made to the phone, or stealing app data.”
In the past, people were able to find workarounds to Google’s block, such as changing the audio source or format, turning the speaker volume as loud as possible, recording manually instead of automatically, and even rooting their phones. Others have since taken to sideloading call-recording apps through an APK file rather than downloading them directly from Google Play.
The version of Android installed on your phone also plays a role in all this. Apps on devices with Android 9 and earlier should still be able to record phone calls without bumping into Google’s latest restrictions. But apps on phones with Android 10 or higher that try to use the accessibility service may run afoul of Google’s new policy.
I’ve looked through the F-Droid repository for a call-recording app before, but didn’t find one that worked. It’s been a while, so maybe I ought to try again. Otherwise, I’m open to suggestions!
Maybe this would work? It was updated 3 weeks ago:
BCR-GUI (companion app for the great BCR (Basic Call Recorder) Android application) https://f-droid.org/packages/com.github.nicorac.bcrgui/
Huh I didn’t know that. I’ve never had a reason to need to record a call but if I ever do that sucks. Fuck google
You are correct, you have the right to be an asshole.
TIL augmenting my memory is “be[ing] an asshole,” but telling me that I don’t have the right to help myself remember isn’t.
No, being the asshole is expecting other people to be recorded for your benefit - without first telling them so that they can consent. And then blaming Google for it.
You consented by calling me. Fuck off with this notion that you’re allowed to dictate what I am or am not allowed to do with my own property.
Lol that’s not how that works at all. How do you know they aren’t in a 2 party consent state? Why would they assume you are going to be recording the calls? I sure don’t assume that when I am calling anyone.
Oh god, I really hope my phone doesn’t do that when it records. The recording button is on the screen during calls and I accidentally hit it all the time.
if you hit record and if it starts to record you will be able to hear the alert message too
Your friend is a mole from the FBI trying to find out what time your smuggled shipment is arriving at the docks. Just make sure to take plenty of muscle with you and you’ll be fine. First sign of Batman get out of there.
Not part way through a phone call. Only as part of the initial call setup or part of the on hold loop.
If it has only happened once then it might be your call was routed a weird way around the phone network.
Because everyone’s is already being recorded if you’re in the US placing a phone call. Not cuz they were accidentally just happened to catch you and some other guys wiretap. They don’t bother with wiretaps except to justify what they’re already doing in front of a court.
That’s pretty creepy. I had computer voices asking me whether I agree to being recorded for training purposes when calling customer support and the likes. But never during a private call.
Maybe contact/write to your provider or something?
Many telecom operators have a special code that is used for recording. When you’re making a call, you or the other party may press the record button. This will save both the input via microphone and the output via the speakers as one audio file for future use. When you press this button a special code is sent back to the telecom.
Until recently most places in the USA did not do anything with this code. But now it’s catching up to the rest of the world. Once this is pressed, a voice will tell both parties that they are being recorded in the recording. This is so that you can’t later say “I didn’t know they were recording me!” and if you have every-party consent laws, then that recording is illegal so it cannot be used as evidence and the person recording could actually be charged with a crime.
You can start the recording with an accidental face press, pocket press, keypad entry, or a malicious app. If either of you accidentally started it, then there’s your answer. If neither of you did, then most likely one of you is infected or one of you were connected to a relay tower decrypting your calls and then passing them through to a real tower. Whoever was operating this relay station was a n00b idiot though. Both are concerning.
Do one of ya sell drugs?
depends on who’s asking. Are you a cop?
Donkey Doug?
“you legally gotta tell me!”
If you’re here to tell me energy drink body spray is a bad idea, I’ve heard it before, from a bank and some doctors.
If that happened, I would quickly hang up and have my provider change my number.
