Newest electronic spying: Recording you on hold

'Call could be used against someone'

By WND Staff
Published August 5, 2018 at 3:24pm

The newest electronic spying goes beyond monitoring where you are with your cellphone.

Or what sites you visit online.

Or the telephone numbers you call or receive calls from.

This electronic spying, according to a report from Jace Larson at the Denver Channel, records you while you're on hold.

"Listening to music while being placed on hold is a scenario many of us are all too familiar with. But did you know some companies are listening to you while you're waiting for an operator to answer?" he asked.

"It happened to September Adams, when she was calling about her student loans. Toward the end of the call, she became frustrated, and the company's recording caught it."

Adams made a comment "she now regrets."

The reporter checked with First Amendment lawyer Steve Zansberg, who said it's a gray area in the law.

"On-hold portion of the call could be used against someone, whether or not it could be used lawfully or whether the mere recording of that information is lawful, is an open question," Zansberg said.

He advised that people "should be very careful when they're speaking with the company after receiving an initial notice that this call may be recorded for training purposes or otherwise."

The recordings are used ordinarily by companies for training and for monitoring their own workers, he explained.

The report found that in some instances, however, companies use them to prove that a customer said or did something.