I’ve been looking up rules on recording conversations, and the US states seem split on whether it should be legal for one party to secretly record a conversation that he’s part of, or whether all parties need to be informed of and consent to a recording.
What are the pros and cons of these two models, from a moral, ethical, and practical standpoint? If you were to build a new state/country from scratch, which model would you chose?
Just for clarification, only 12 states require all parties to consent: California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii (in general a one-party state, but requires two-party consent if the recording device is installed in a private place), Illinois (debated), Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana (requires notification only), Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Washington. Cite.
I personally don’t see any cons unless you’ve said something you’d rather not have a record of and you weren’t the one making the recording. I certainly wouldn’t have any ethical or moral qualms recording a conversation if I felt I would need corroboration later.