Illinois recording consent law for interviews: record openly, never surreptitiously

Illinois makes it a felony to record a private conversation "in a surreptitious manner" unless "all other parties" consent. That rule, in 720 ILCS 5/14-2(a)(2), applies to people who are part of the conversation, so an interviewer is covered. The test is secrecy: an interview recorded or transcribed openly, with everyone told and agreeing, is outside the offense, while one captured quietly is exactly what the statute targets. As of October 2026, a first offense is a Class 4 felony, and the people recorded can sue for actual and punitive damages.

Comparing Illinois with another state on the call? Use the consent checker.

This page is the practical version: who the statute reaches, what makes a recording surreptitious, how it applies to phone, video and in-person interviews, the exemptions that do not help recruiters, penalties, calls across the Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky lines, and a consent line.

Is Illinois a one-party or all-party consent state?

All-party, for recordings made in secret. Section 14-2(a) lists the ways a person commits eavesdropping "when he or she knowingly and intentionally" does certain things. Three paragraphs matter for interviews:

The definitions in 720 ILCS 5/14-1 make the rule wide. An eavesdropping device is "any device capable of being used to hear or record oral conversation or intercept, or transcribe electronic communications." An eavesdropper expressly includes "any party to a private conversation" who operates a device contrary to the article. The current wording dates from Public Act 98-1142, effective December 30, 2014, which rewrote the article after the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the older version; that history is in Illinois eavesdropping law for interviews.

What makes a recording "surreptitious"?

Section 14-1(g) defines surreptitious as "obtained or made by stealth or deception, or executed through secrecy or concealment." Each of the four words maps onto something that happens in real interviews:

• Stealth. Starting a recorder or transcription app without mentioning it, on the assumption the candidate will not notice.
• Deception. Telling the candidate "I'll just jot a few notes" while software captures every word. Saying something is not the same as saying something accurate.
• Secrecy. Capturing on your own computer, where no bot appears and the meeting platform shows no recording badge, and saying nothing.
• Concealment. A phone recording face-down on the table during an on-site interview.

The fix for all four is the same sentence at the start: say what is being captured and with what, and wait for an answer. Because (a)(2) also names "the consent of all other parties," a clear yes gives you both defenses at once: the recording is not secret, and everyone consented. A line buried in a calendar invite is weaker than words spoken at the start of the call, because the question is what the candidate actually knew.

Does it matter whether the interview is by phone, video or in person?

No. A private conversation is "any oral communication between 2 or more persons, whether in person or transmitted between the parties by wire or other means," when a party intended it to be private "under circumstances reasonably justifying that expectation." A scheduled interview usually meets that test in every format.

Do any Illinois exemptions cover recruiting calls?

Section 14-3 lists the exemptions. Two are sometimes misread as business-friendly:

• Call monitoring, 14-3(j). This covers "a corporation or other business entity engaged in marketing or opinion research" or "engaged in telephone solicitation," monitoring those calls for quality control, training or research, "with the consent of at least one person who is an active party." The word interview appears, but it means "a marketing or opinion research interview" by a firm "whose principal business is the design, conduct, and analysis of polls and surveys." A job interview is neither. The exemption also requires workplace signage and access to unmonitored lines.
• Suspected crime, 14-3(i). A party may record "under reasonable suspicion that another party to the conversation is committing, is about to commit, or has committed a criminal offense against the person or a member of his or her immediate household." That is about protecting yourself from a crime, not about assessing candidates.

What are the penalties in Illinois?

• Criminal. Under 720 ILCS 5/14-4, eavesdropping is "for a first offense, a Class 4 felony" and a Class 3 felony after that. A Class 4 felony carries "not less than one year and not more than 3 years" under 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-45, and felony fines run up to $25,000 per offense, or $50,000 "if the offender is a corporation," under 730 ILCS 5/5-4.5-50(b).
• Civil. Under 720 ILCS 5/14-6, any or all parties to the conversation can get an injunction, "all actual damages against the eavesdropper or his principal or both," and punitive damages.
• Principals. A principal includes a person who "knowingly employs another who illegally uses an eavesdropping device in the course of such employment" or "knowingly derives any benefit or information" from it. An agency that knows recruiters record secretly, or uses the recordings, is in the statute's sights.
• Landlords and building operators. Section 14-6 also allows damages against "any landlord, owner or building operator" who "aids, abets, or knowingly permits" the eavesdropping. Relevant if you run interviews in space you rent out or share.

What if the candidate or the recruiter is outside Illinois?

Every state on Illinois's borders, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri and Kentucky, follows a one-party rule for participants. That makes cross-border calls common in the metro areas that straddle the line: Chicago and northwest Indiana, the St. Louis area, the Quad Cities, Kenosha and the North Shore. A recruiter in Indiana calling a candidate in Chicago may be within Indiana's rule and still record a person protected by Illinois's. Do not count on your own state's law deciding the matter; courts have applied the stricter state's law in some cases and the recorder's in others, as explained in recording calls across state lines. Asking openly satisfies both.

For the full list of states with an all-party rule, and why counts differ, see two-party consent states.

What else applies to an Illinois interview?

The eavesdropping article decides whether you may capture the conversation. Two other Illinois laws can decide what you may do with it. The Artificial Intelligence Video Interview Act, 820 ILCS 42/5, applies when an employer asks applicants to record video interviews and uses AI analysis of them for positions based in Illinois: it requires notice, an explanation of "how the artificial intelligence works," and consent before the interview, and section 15 requires deletion within 30 days of an applicant's request. The details are in Illinois AI Video Interview Act. Tools that create voiceprints or face geometry raise the Biometric Information Privacy Act as well. A plain transcript is a different thing from a voiceprint; ask your vendor which it produces. The wider picture is in is it legal to record a job interview.

A consent line for Illinois interviews

"Before we start, I want to be upfront: I'd like to [record /
transcribe] this interview with [tool] so my notes for the [role]
position are accurate. Everyone on our side has agreed. It's seen by
[who] and kept for [period]. If you'd rather I didn't, I'll keep it
off and take notes by hand, and it won't affect your application.
Is that OK with you?"

[Clear yes: start. No or unsure: capture stays off.]

Name the tool and describe it accurately; that is what keeps the recording out of "stealth or deception." Panel, email and log versions are in the interview recording consent script.

Checklist for Illinois interviews

1. Announce any recording or transcription before it starts, in words, to everyone present.
2. Get agreement from every other interviewer, not only the candidate.
3. Describe the tool accurately; "notes" is not a description of a recorder.
4. Never capture an interview you are not part of without all parties' consent.
5. Do not rely on the marketing and telephone solicitation exemption.
6. Check AI analysis and biometric features separately before the first Illinois interview.
7. Make sure managers know an agency can be liable as a principal.