recording washington
Is a conversation &quot;private&quot; (in a two-party state) if it is at your desk at work with a co-worker?
<p>In the context of an in-person conversation in the State of Washington (a two-party state), an <a href="http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/washington/washington-recording-law" rel="nofollow noreferrer">online reference</a> states:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Whether a conversation or other communications is "private" depends on
  a number of case-specific factors, such as the subjective intention of
  the parties, the reasonableness of their expectation that the
  conversation would be private, the location of the conversation, and
  whether third parties were present.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Suppose the location was your desk at work, and a co-worker came up and propositioned you. Further suppose that though this is in the midst of a cubicle farm nobody else was in earshot.</p>

<p>Would it be legal to record such a conversation at your workplace without getting the consent of the co-worker?</p>

<p>I can't tell from this as it seems to me: a) The subjective intention of the co-worker would probably be that the conversation was private; b) the lack of other people within earshot might have provided the co-worker with the expectation the conversation would be private; but on the other hand, c) at that location you would not expect privacy.</p>

<p>(I will accept as valid, BTW, an answer pointing me to reasonably authoritative documentation, up to and including court cases on point.  I was unable to find it: Stuff I found was all in the context of telephone conversations (i.e. not in-person) or public hearings or being a journalist.)</p>

<p>A reasonably analogous case is <a href="http://courts.mrsc.org/supreme/179wn2d/179wn2d0718.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">State v. Kipp</a>, 179 Wn.2d 718. The court held that a secret recording was illegal, and the recording was of a face to face recording, using a cassette recorder. The court provides an analysis of the meaning of "private" under <a href="https://app.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.73.030" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RCW 9.73.030</a>, and concludes that "A communication is private (1) when parties manifest a subjective intention that it be private and (2) where that expectation is reasonable" (with appropriate in-state citations). They say that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Factors bearing on the reasonableness of the privacy expectation
  include the duration and subject matter of the communication, the
  location of the communication and the presence or potential presence
  of third parties, and the role of the nonconsenting party and his or
  her relationship to the consenting party. Ultimately, the intent or
  reasonable expectations of the participants as manifested by the facts
  and circumstances of each case controls as to whether a conversation
  is private</p>
</blockquote>

<p>but in this case,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Kipp manifested a subjective intention that the conversation be
  private. We have found subjective intent that a conversation be
  private even though the party does not explicitly state such an
  intention</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The court in fact rejects the state's contention that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>a person who confesses to child molestation should expect this
  information to be reported to the authorities, and therefore it is
  unreasonable to expect the conversation to remain private</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and the court reaffirms that</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>the subject matter of the conversation in this case was not one that
  is normally intended to be public, demonstrating Kipp's reasonable
  expectation of privacy.</p>
</blockquote>
