Call recording functionality still not available in the UK

[Dave2937]

Hi All, 

Isn't it absolutely ridiculous that Samsung have call recording functionality available in the US and South Korea but not the UK? 

If you request it, they say they can't have it due to security and privacy reasons which is utter *****. 

You're legally allowed to record phone calls in the UK provided you let the other party know before the recording starts. 

All they need to add is an automated voice so when you hit the record call button, an automated voice states "This call is recorded". 

It is extremely frustrating users have been requesting this functionality for years at this point and Samsung simply ignore the requests. 

Pretty dreadful for a company that charges £1250 for a flagship phone. 

In this day and age especially with how dodgy businesses are, I'm always wanting to record my calls in the event it needs to be used in a court or tribunal. 

I'll be considering other phone manufacturers next year.

[Piper123]

Hey there and welcome to the Samsung UK and EU Community Forum

You are correct that call recording is legal and you touch on a requirement to advise the caller that the call is being recorded. Problem is not everyone plays by the rules.

Call recording has been removed from UK and EU due to GDPR and other infosec concerns and isn't likely to return from Samsung.

[GytisRepecka]

There is an easy explanation why automatic call recording is not available in EU - all parties of the conversation must give explicit consent to be recorded. It must be active action, not assumption.

That is, all those notices before the call "if you continue, it is assumed you accept being recorded" - this is illegal according to GDPR (consent can't be assumed - it must be given). And there is no industry-standard method of how such consent could be given in a standard way (pressing certain button, speaking out certain phrase, etc.) so that all phones could support it.

[Dave2937]

Mm, I didn't know it was due to GDPR. How does that work in relation to businesses as every single business I speak to record their calls? Why can businesses record but consumers can't?

[GoanGeek]

Businesses can be regulated and fined for misconduct. Consumers can be tricky like disputes between family members or even friends) or in a social settings.
Gdpr is a EU thing and UK has adopted it for good or for worse.

That's why US gets more stuff quickly then UK pr Europe.

Big global companies like Samsung have to cater to different regulations in different countries to sell their goods.

Look at the Chinese phones. You can't buy them anywhere.

Also recording someone is like eaves dropping . Not a good habit. 😊

[GytisRepecka]

GDPR protects private customers in EU. That is, if business is dealing with private customer - GDPR applies in it's full extent.

It is obligatory to receive explicit consent before recording a call.

• When business entity asks customer "Do you accept this call to be recorded?" and customer responds "Yes, I do." - that is ok by GDPR;
• When business entity informs customer "This call will be recorded, proceed this call to accept." - that is not ok by GDPR.

If you come across business entity that records calls by assuming you accept that, just report it to your local data protection office (each EU country has one) 🤓

Same story with cookie consents on websites: until visitor clicks "I accept" - setting a non-functional cookie (such as one for analytics or marketing) is illegal.

[andypandy13]

On my Nevertobemention15 pro max, I can record a call. As soon as I press record it plays a message to all parties that the call is being recorded

[Dave2937]

Thanks for explaining this but I'm confused. I'm in the United Kingdom and although we're no longer in the EU, we still adhere to GDPR. Businesses here simply state "This call is recorded for training and monitoring purposes". It doesn't wait for an answer or asks the customer to accept? It automatically records without the customer providing consent?

[Dave2937]

On my 14 pro, I'm not able to do this in the UK. Which country are you in?

[andypandy13]

I'm in the UK, I have the ios 18 beta. But that's rolling out before Christmas so all uk should have it