this post was submitted on 24 Aug 2026
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I'm not aware of any state that applies two party consent rules to written communications. As far as I can tell, state wiretap laws only apply to in-person or live voice conversations (like traditional phone calls).
Oregon, for example, is a two party consent state for phone calls but single party consent for electronic communications. Same with Illinois.
Connecticut and Montana don't apply two party rules when the non-recording parties are merely aware that recording is happening, and it seems like a pretty straightforward analysis that everyone knows that the other side keeps text messages on their phone, usually indefinitely.
The nature of email, text messaging, or any other kind of written communication basically makes it impossible to expect the other side not to save a record of the conversation, because that's just how the technology generally works.
I was curious if it would but it’s the stored communications act instead, which frankly seems a much better case anyways. Theoretically two party consent could maybe cover it, but the law is old and we have others that cover electronic communications anyways.
The federal Stored Communications Act is essentially one party consent. It primarily restricts the ability of a service provider (who isn't a party to those communications) to share things with law enforcement or with others, and governs the manner in which governments can compel disclosure of information about communications. None of it restricts an actual party to the communication, though.