Interception of Wire, Electronic and Oral Communications (wiretap and one-party consent recording)

Rhode Island is a one-party consent state: it is a crime to intercept a phone call, electronic communication or in-person conversation unless the interceptor is a party or one party has consented in advance, and even then not if the recording is made to commit a crime, tort or other injurious act. Chapter 12-5.1 sets the court-order procedure for law-enforcement wiretaps and gives victims of unlawful interception a civil damages claim.