Alaska: Call and Conversation Recording Consent Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law and covered recording

Alaska uses overlapping provisions. AS 42.20.310 prohibits device-assisted hearing or recording of an oral conversation without one party's consent and restricts later use, disclosure, and publication of illegally obtained conversation information.

AS 42.20.300 separately prohibits intentionally intercepting a private oral, wire, or electronic communication without authorization from a party and restricts later publication or beneficial use.

Whose consent a participant needs

Alaska is one-party. A participant supplies the party consent required by § 42.20.310 and may authorize interception under § 42.20.300(b). In 2025-2026 companion bills HB 86 and SB 85 would have changed the recording phrase from “a party” to “all parties,” but both died when the 34th Legislature adjourned in May 2026, so the one-party rule remains current law.

Privacy, confidentiality, or secrecy trigger

Section 42.20.310 applies to an “oral conversation” and states no separate reasonable-expectation test. Section 42.20.300 applies to a “private communication,” which § 42.20.390 defines through the speaker's or sender's reasonable expectation against interception.

Telephone, in-person, and electronic coverage

The special § 42.20.310 definition covers a device used to hear or record oral conversation “in person, by telephone, or by any other means.” Sections 42.20.300 and .390 separately reach private oral, wire, and electronic communications; the electronic definition expressly includes cellular and cordless telephone communications.

How consent or notice is given

The current provisions require consent or authorization from a party but prescribe no written form, advance timing, warning script, audible tone, periodic reminder, or continued-participation rule.

Major participant-facing exceptions

Section 42.20.320 exempts publicly made radio or wireless communications, ordinary-course carrier work, incidental conversations at public broadcasts, emergency-service communications, inadvertent party-line interception, and specified peace-officer activities.

It also permits a parent to intercept a minor child's private communication, except communications with the child's attorney, guardian ad litem, or custody investigator. The statute imposes special limits on later use as evidence.

Criminal classification and penalty

Alaska Stat. § 42.20.330 classifies violations of §§ 42.20.300 and .310 as Class A misdemeanors. Section 12.55.135(a) authorizes up to one year of imprisonment; § 12.55.035(b)(5) authorizes an individual fine up to $25,000.

Civil remedy and evidence effect

The complete AS 42.20.300-.390 range contains no express private-damages action or general suppression provision. The parent-minor exception is narrower: qualifying evidence may be considered or admitted subject to the Alaska Rules of Evidence and, for listed custody or official proceedings, a best-interests determination (§ 42.20.320(a)(9)).

Interstate and federal boundary

Alaska's provisions do not decide which state governs an interstate call. Federal law generally permits participant or one-party recording unless undertaken for a criminal or tortious purpose (18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d)).

Alaska law is also one-party, but another connected state may require everyone. All-party consent remains the prudent multistate baseline, so recheck any connected state's rule before recording.

What trips people up

A recent proposal to switch to all-party consent died. In 2025-2026, companion bills HB 86 and SB 85 would have replaced “a party” with “all parties” in § 42.20.310, but both died in committee when the 34th Legislature adjourned in May 2026. The one-party rule remains current law, though a similar bill could return in a future session.

Two provisions overlap. Section 42.20.310 governs oral-conversation recording broadly; § 42.20.300 separately protects private oral, wire, and electronic communications and regulates publication and use.

The parent exception has protected channels. It does not authorize interception of a minor's communications with an attorney, guardian ad litem, or child-custody investigator.

Common questions

May I record my own Alaska phone call without telling the other person? Yes. AS 42.20.310 generally permits it because you are a party. A 2025-2026 bill to require everyone's consent died, so the one-party rule stands, but a stricter connected state's law could still apply to an interstate call.

Does Alaska cover an in-person meeting? Yes. The eavesdropping-device definition expressly covers oral conversation conducted in person.

Does the law cover cellular calls? Yes. Section 42.20.310 covers telephone conversation generally, and § 42.20.390 expressly includes cellular and cordless telephone communications in the electronic category used by § 42.20.300.

Statutes and sources

• Alaska Stat. §§ 42.20.300-.390 — current one-party rules, use/publication restrictions, exceptions, definitions, and misdemeanor grade. https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=42.20.300&secEnd=42.20.390 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Alaska Stat. § 12.55.135 — Class A misdemeanor imprisonment maximum. https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=12.55.130&secEnd=12.55.135 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Alaska Stat. § 12.55.035 — Class A misdemeanor fine maximum. https://www.akleg.gov/basis/statutes.asp?media=print&secStart=12.55.035&secEnd=12.55.035 (accessed 2026-07-20)
• Alaska HB 86 and SB 85, 34th Legislature — all-party-consent proposals that died in committee when the legislature adjourned sine die on May 20, 2026. https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/34?Root=HB%20%2086 and https://www.akleg.gov/basis/Bill/Detail/34?Root=SB%20%2085 (checked 2026-07-20)
• 18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) — federal private-participant consent rule. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title18-section2511&num=0&edition=prelim (accessed 2026-07-20)