What is two-party (all-party) consent wiretapping laws?
Two-party or all-party consent laws require every participant in a communication to consent before it can be recorded or intercepted, unlike one-party consent states where only one participant's consent is needed. About a dozen states, including California, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, follow an all-party consent rule, and website operators have faced a wave of class actions in these states arguing that tracking tools capture visitor interactions without the visitor's consent.
This area of law is changing. The description below reflects the position as of 2026-08-22. Check the sources before relying on it.
This body of law is expanding rapidly and unevenly by state: California's CIPA claims remain active for wiretapping theories even as a narrower related theory was cut back by 2026 legislation, while Pennsylvania's Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Control Act has generated a growing number of website-tracking suits with damages up to $1,000 per violation plus punitive damages. Because coverage and enforcement differ meaningfully by state and are still shifting, the specific consent requirement that applies depends on which state's law governs the communication at issue.
Sources
Last reviewed 2026-08-22.