Recording job interviews in Denmark: Criminal Code section 263, the Data Protection Act and Datatilsynet's rules

In Denmark, recording a job interview you take part in is not a crime: Datatilsynet, the Danish Data Protection Agency, explains that section 263 of the Criminal Code bans secretly listening to or recording conversations between others, so you may record conversations you take part in yourself. Whether you may make and keep the recording is a data protection question under the GDPR and the Danish Data Protection Act, and Datatilsynet's guidance says a video meeting can be recorded without consent only if notes or other means cannot in practice document what was said. For most interviews that means asking the candidate first. This is the position as of October 2026.

This page adds Denmark to our country series alongside the Netherlands, Germany, France and the UK. Denmark's regulator has published specific, practical guidance on recording phone calls and Teams or Zoom meetings, including suggested deletion periods, which most of its neighbors have not.

The Danish rules at a glance

Can a participant record a conversation in Denmark?

Yes, under the Criminal Code (straffeloven). Datatilsynet's page on recordings says: "Secret listening to or recording of conversations between others is prohibited under section 263 of the Criminal Code. This means that you may only record conversations in which you yourself take part, or where you have obtained consent from at least one of the participants in the conversation being recorded." It adds: "If it is contrary to the Criminal Code to record sound, it is not lawful under the data protection rules either" (Datatilsynet, recordings and CCTV; our translation).

So a recruiter on a phone or video interview is not committing an offense by recording it. Recording a colleague's interview that you are not part of, without any participant's consent, is a different matter. The real limits on interview recordings in Denmark come from data protection law.

What does Datatilsynet say about recording Teams and Zoom meetings?

Datatilsynet has answered this directly, because it gets regular questions about recording meetings on platforms such as Zoom, Skype and Teams. Its view, on the same page (Datatilsynet; our translation and summary):

• No special rule, so the general rules apply. Whether recording a digital meeting is acceptable depends on the circumstances, including the participants, their relationship and the purpose.
• Documentation without consent is the exception. You may record without the other participants' consent if you need to document what was said and it is not possible in practice to document it another way, judged by the same criteria as for phone calls.
• Otherwise, consent. If you cannot justify the recording as necessary for documentation, "as a starting point you can only record the meeting if you obtain consent from the other participants."
• Opt-out only between peers. Where participants have a professional or social relationship, such as lawyers discussing a case, it can be enough that nobody objects after being told; if someone later regrets agreeing, the recording should as a starting point be deleted or the person made unrecognizable.

A job interview can almost always be documented with notes and a scorecard, and a candidate and a recruiter are not peers in the sense of that opt-out example. In practice, Datatilsynet's guidance points to asking the candidate for consent before recording.

What does the phone-recording guidance require?

Datatilsynet's April 2024 guidance on recording telephone calls (Optagelse af telefonsamtaler) applies to phone screens and sets out the details:

• Necessity test. Recording without consent requires that "the need to be able to document the content of the conversation cannot in practice be met in another way," for example by telephone notes or follow-up correspondence, and the employer must be able to demonstrate that need to Datatilsynet.
• Recording does not widen what you may collect. A recorded call gives no wider right to process personal data than if the same information had been received in writing or noted down.
• Valid consent is active. It must be an active, unambiguous act, such as pressing a key; silence or inactivity is not consent.
• Deletion deadline. Datatilsynet recommends a general deletion deadline, "for example 3 months," for recordings kept as documentation, unless a specific recording must be kept longer, for example because of a dispute.
• Information and access. People recorded must be told about the recording, its purpose and legal basis, and be able to get access to the recording. Give the key facts on the call and a direct link to fuller information; a link to a general privacy policy will typically not be enough.

What does Datatilsynet say about recruitment and employees?

Its March 2023 guidance on data protection in employment (Databeskyttelse i ansættelsesforhold) adds the employment layer:

• Legal basis in recruitment. Data in a recruitment process can be processed under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR for private employers, Article 6(1)(e) for public ones, and section 12 of the Data Protection Act, which covers employment matters before, during and after employment where law or collective agreements require or allow the processing.
• Consent is rarely free at work. Consent in employment will rarely meet the requirement of being freely given because of the imbalance between employer and employee, though it is not ruled out.
• Rejected applicants. Employers have no duty to keep data on applicants who were not offered the job and may keep relevant data for a period after recruitment, but that period "must be as short as possible." Keeping data for possible later hiring requires the applicant's consent, with the period stated.
• Recording employees. Recording employees' calls cannot as a rule rest on their consent, may rest on legitimate interests such as training, requires that employees are told calls are recorded and why, and recordings must be deleted at fixed short intervals.

The last point matters because your interviewers are recorded too. Tell them in advance, and do not use interview recordings to assess them unless that has been agreed and documented. Check your collective agreements as well, since section 12 makes them part of the legal picture. Our guide to legitimate interest in recruitment covers how to document the balancing test.

What happens if an employer records secretly?

In a decision dated August 26, 2025, Datatilsynet expressed serious criticism of a dental practice that had covertly recorded conversations with an employee over more than a year, about the employment relationship and sickness absence. It found the recordings lacked a legal basis under Article 6(1) GDPR and breached the transparency principle in Article 5(1)(a), because the employee was never told (Datatilsynet, case 2024-31-1076). Being a participant kept the recordings outside the Criminal Code; it did not make them lawful under data protection law.

What if you interview a candidate in Denmark from the US?

The Criminal Code will not usually be the problem for a participant, but the US side of the call has its own rules, which depend on the state you are in; see is it legal to record a job interview. On data protection, an employer or agency established in the EU is covered by the GDPR under Article 3(1); for a US company with no EU establishment, it depends on Article 3(2). The simplest course is to follow Datatilsynet's approach for every candidate in Denmark: ask before recording, explain why, and delete on a short schedule.

Can you use AI note takers or transcription?

Yes, within the same rules. Tell the candidate before the call which tool is used and whether audio is kept, check where the provider processes the audio and whether it leaves the EU or EEA, and keep hiring decisions with a person. If the tool scores or ranks candidates, check Article 22 GDPR and the EU AI Act's rules for recruitment systems; see the EU AI Act for recruiting. Interview Signal (our product), for example, captures audio from the interviewer's computer with no bot in the call, shows a read-aloud consent line with a one-click pause, and does not keep audio after transcription; the transcript is still personal data under the rules above.

A consent line for interviews in Denmark

Inden vi går i gang: Jeg vil gerne [optage / transskribere med et
program] vores samtale, så jeg kan koncentrere mig om dig og gengive
dine svar korrekt. [Optagelsen / Transskriptionen] bruges kun i denne
rekrutteringsproces og slettes senest [frist], efter at den er
afsluttet. Du kan læse mere på [direkte link]. Er det i orden med
dig? Du kan sige nej eller bede om en pause når som helst, og det
påvirker ikke din ansøgning.

(Before we start: I'd like to [record / transcribe with software] our
conversation so I can concentrate on you and capture your answers
correctly. The [recording / transcript] is used only in this recruitment
process and deleted no later than [period] after it ends. You can read
more at [direct link]. Is that all right with you? You can say no or ask
to pause at any time, and it won't affect your application.)

Wait for a clear yes; silence is not consent. More wording options are in our interview recording consent script.

Checklist before you record interviews in Denmark

• Only interviews you take part in are recorded.
• Candidate asked before recording starts, with an active yes and a real option to continue without recording.
• Invitation and call give the purpose, legal basis, retention period and a direct link to fuller information.
• Interviewers told in advance; collective agreements checked.
• A deletion deadline set, for example three months, and talent-pool retention only with consent; see our retention policy template.
• Access requests answered with the recording or transcript.

Hiring elsewhere in the Nordics? Compare Sweden and Norway.