Can You Record Prison Phone Calls In The UK?

When someone you love is in prison, every phone call matters. Those few minutes on the line can ease worry, give reassurance, and help keep a relationship alive despite walls and distance. It’s natural, then, for many people to wonder: can I record these calls to listen back later? Or even simply keep a copy to hold onto important words, share with family, or remind children of a parent’s voice.

But when it comes to prison phone calls in the UK, the rules around recording and saving are strict. Calls are heavily monitored and regulated by prison authorities. Misunderstanding these rules — or breaking them — could lead to serious consequences for your loved one, including losing phone privileges or facing internal discipline.

This article takes a detailed look at whether you can record prison phone calls in the UK, why the system is set up this way, and what safer alternatives exist to keep connections strong without risking trouble.

Are prison phone calls recorded in the UK?

Yes. In fact, almost all phone calls made by prisoners in the UK are automatically recorded by the prison service. This is true across prisons in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

The system works through a secure PIN-based phone system. Every prisoner has a unique PIN number linked to their account. Before they can make a call, they must enter their PIN, and the system logs the call — including date, time, length, number dialled, and an audio recording.

The recordings themselves are stored by the prison (or contracted phone service provider) and can be reviewed by security staff at any time. They’re mainly kept for:

Security reasons
To prevent crimes being planned over the phone, stop witness intimidation or harassment, and monitor gang activity.

‍Evidence
If illegal activities are suspected, recordings can be passed on to police or used in court.

‍General order
To help keep the prison safe by deterring threats, fights, or smuggling schemes arranged over the phone.

Are any calls exempt from being recorded?

Yes — with one major exception: calls to a prisoner’s solicitor (or certain other approved legal bodies) are meant to be private and are usually not recorded or listened to. This is to protect legal privilege, which is a right under UK law.

However, even these calls must generally be pre-approved as confidential. They’re also carefully logged to make sure the line is genuinely going to a solicitor or other protected adviser.

Other than legal calls, you can assume all prison phone calls are recorded and may be listened to. This is standard practice.

Can you record a call from a prisoner yourself?

For families on the outside, the answer is no — not safely or legally without risk.

‍While you might technically have the ability to hit record on your mobile or use an app, doing so comes with serious problems. Why you can’t recordThere are two main reasons:

‍UK data and privacy laws.
Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and parts of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, recording a private conversation typically requires the consent of both parties. In a standard call between friends outside prison, you could simply say, “Mind if I record this?” and go ahead if they agree. But in a prison context, things are more complicated. Prisons have strict communication policies that cover how calls are made and monitored. Recording these calls on your end even with verbal permission from your loved one could still breach rules about secure communications and how prison calls are managed.

‍Prison rules and approved communication policies.
Most prisons have regulations that state phone calls must be made under certain controlled conditions. Recording the call on your side could violate these approved conditions, which could lead to disciplinary action against the prisoner or you being removed from their approved phone list.

What happens if the prison finds out?

Prisons take phone security extremely seriously. Calls are routinely spot-checked by staff, and if there’s suspicion you’re recording conversations to share online, distribute elsewhere, or even use inappropriately in family disputes, it can trigger several actions:

‍Your number could be blocked.
This means you’d be removed from the prisoner’s approved PIN list, so they couldn’t call you at all.

‍The prisoner could face disciplinary action.
This might include loss of phone privileges, additional time behind their door, or even impact their progression through the prison system (such as eligibility for certain programmes or categories).

‍In more serious situations, the issue could be escalated to police or probation officers.
‍Because of these risks, recording calls from prison isn’t just discouraged — it’s effectively a direct risk to your loved one’s communication rights.

Can you get copies of prison phone calls?

From the prison
Generally, no — families cannot request copies of calls that the prison itself records. These recordings are kept by the prison service as part of their security systems and are only accessed by authorised staff. If there is an investigation or the prisoner’s solicitor needs the content for a legal defence, they can apply through proper legal channels to obtain relevant excerpts. But even then, these are treated strictly as evidence, not personal mementoes.

From your own phone provider?
No again. Because these calls are routed through secure prison phone systems and then out to you, your personal mobile or landline provider will not have recordings — only billing logs showing dates and durations.

Why do families want to record calls?

It’s not hard to understand why so many people search online for ways to record prison calls.

For parents, it might be wanting to let children listen to a bedtime message again. For partners, it could be holding onto a few words of love to replay during lonely days. Some families simply want to remember their loved one’s voice especially in cases where sentences are long, or there are health concerns.

All of these are deeply human reasons. But unfortunately, under UK prison rules, they’re not grounds for making personal recordings of prison calls.

What about using speakerphone or apps to “quietly” record?

Some people try to sidestep restrictions by putting a prison call on speakerphone and using another phone to record it, or by running a call recorder app.

While you might not get caught right away, these methods still carry the same fundamental risks. If the recording ever came to light (for example shared on social media, in family disputes, or even accidentally mentioned in another monitored call), your loved one could face punishment.

It’s also important to remember that conversations inside prison are vulnerable — other prisoners might overhear details, or a misused recording could cause problems that spill back into the prison wing.

Whats the best way to stay in contact with a inmate?

Make more regular calls instead
Because you can’t legally or safely record calls, the best alternative is simply to build a habit of frequent, even if short, phone contact. Many families find that two or three five-minute calls spread through the week feel more comforting than one long conversation that’s then missed for days.Regular contact keeps the relationship fresh and helps reduce stress on both sides.

Use letters as a keepsake
Letters are still one of the best ways to preserve meaningful words. They give your loved one a chance to express thoughts more deeply, and they give you something tangible to keep and reread.
Encouraging letters alongside calls is a wonderful way to blend the immediacy of voice contact with the lasting comfort of written words.

Help make calls cheaper
One of the main reasons people end up wanting to record calls is because they feel pressured by cost if calls are expensive, there’s a temptation to save every precious word.
Prison calls to mobiles can cost around 19–25p per minute, while calls to landlines are typically about 8p per minute. This means a ten-minute call to a mobile might use up £2.50 of credit, draining funds fast. Services like Prison Call solve this by giving families a virtual landline number. The prisoner dials this local landline, gets charged at the low landline rate, but it rings straight through to your mobile. This small change can cut phone costs in half, letting you afford far more calls — and removing the need to record them for later comfort.

Stay close, the right way

With Prison Call, you’ll save on every minute, so there’s no pressure to cram everything into one call, and no reason to try risky recordings. You can learn more and see exactly how much you’d save with out savings calculator. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about capturing the call it’s about keeping the conversation going.

It’s completely understandable to want to keep the voice of someone you miss. But in the UK, recording calls from prison is against the rules and could put your loved one’s privileges and even their well-being inside at risk.Instead, focus on making phone contact more frequent and affordable. Use services like Prison Call to cut costs, write letters they can keep, and encourage them to keep sending notes back. This helps you stay connected safely, without risking disciplinary trouble or losing that vital communication line altogether.