Recording Interview Consent Form
A free consent form for recording interviews — audio, video, or both. Covers two-party consent compliance, storage, usage rights, and participant withdrawal. For research, journalism, podcasting, UX, and media.
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RECORDING CONSENT: I, [ interviewee ], consent to this interview being audio and video recorded by [ interviewer / organisation ] in connection with [ project ].
STORAGE: The recording will be stored on a secure, access-restricted system. Access is limited to the research / production team.
MY RIGHTS: I may request the recording be stopped at any time. I may request deletion of the recording after the interview.
TRANSCRIPT: ☐ I consent to my words being transcribed from this recording.
PARTICIPANT SIGNATURE: ___________________________ Date: __________
INTERVIEWER SIGNATURE: ___________________________ Date: __________
What Is a Recording Interview Consent Form and When Do You Need One?
A recording interview consent form is a written document that grants an interviewer explicit permission to capture an interview as an audio file, video file, or both. It goes beyond a general interview consent form by addressing the specific legal and ethical considerations of capturing a permanent record of a person’s voice, face, and statements — including where the recording will be stored, who can access it, how it will be used, and how long it will be kept before deletion.
Recording consent is required in almost every professional context where interviews are captured. Academic researchers must obtain written recording consent as part of their IRB interview consent form process before any human-subjects interview is recorded. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press maintains a state-by-state guide to US recording laws — around a dozen states including California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, and Washington require all parties to consent before a conversation is recorded. A signed recording consent form satisfies this legal requirement in all US jurisdictions.
The type of interview determines which recording consent form best suits your needs. For academic and social science interviews, a research interview consent form should include a dedicated recording section covering transcription rights and data storage per your institution’s policy. For video interviews — whether conducted in person or via Zoom or Skype — a video-specific consent form is also required, as video recordings carry additional considerations around likeness rights and visual identification. For remote and online interviews, recording consent sent via email before the session begins is widely accepted as legally valid.
For media productions, recording consent requirements vary by format. A podcast interview consent form needs to cover audio recording rights, platform distribution, and clip reuse. A journalism interview consent form should clarify whether recording is for the journalist’s own notes or for broadcast publication. A media interview consent form covers the broadest distribution rights including TV broadcast, theatrical release, and streaming. For UX research interviews, recording consent typically also covers screen recordings and session replays alongside audio and video.
Not sure what to include? Our step-by-step guide on how to write an interview consent form covers the recording-specific clauses in detail. You can also view completed recording interview consent form samples and examples before customising your own. If you only need a simple one-page form without detailed storage clauses, our simple interview consent form may be the quickest option.
What to Include in a Recording Interview Consent Form
- Interviewer / organisation name and contact detailsClearly identify who is recording the interview and under what organisation or project authority.
- Type of recording: audio, video, screen, or allProvide separate checkbox options for audio and video so participants can consent to one but not the other. For UX research sessions, include a separate option for screen recording.
- Purpose of the recordingState clearly whether the recording is for transcription only, research publication, broadcast, podcast distribution, or archiving. Vague purpose statements are not sufficient under IRB or GDPR requirements.
- Storage location and access controlsSpecify exactly where the recording will be stored (encrypted hard drive, secure cloud, institutional server) and who will have access. For research recordings, this must satisfy your IRB data management plan.
- Retention period and deletion policyState how long the recording will be kept (e.g. 5 years, until project completion, indefinitely for journalism) and what happens at the end of the retention period — deletion or archiving.
- Right to refuse recording while still participatingMake clear that declining to be recorded is not the same as declining to participate — the participant can still take part using a notes-only format. See our participant interview consent form for this clause.
- Right to request the recording be stopped during the interviewParticipants must be able to pause or stop the recording at any point without this affecting their participation.
- Right to request deletion of the recording after the interviewDocument the procedure and timeframe for requesting post-interview deletion. Under GDPR, this is a legal right for EU-based participants.
- Transcript consent and review rightsState whether the recording will be transcribed, whether the participant can review the transcript before publication, and whether AI transcription tools will be used.
- Signature and date lines for both partiesBoth participant and interviewer must sign. For remote interviews, a digitally confirmed email exchange is accepted in most jurisdictions as equivalent to a written signature.
Recording Law & Compliance Resources
- Reporters Committee — State-by-State Recording Law Guide — the definitive resource on one-party vs two-party consent laws across all 50 US states, updated regularly.
- GDPR Right to Erasure (Right to Be Forgotten) — under GDPR, EU participants can request deletion of their recordings at any time. Your consent form must reflect this right.
- HHS / OHRP — 45 CFR Part 46 (The Common Rule) — the US federal regulation governing informed consent in human subjects research, including recording consent requirements.
Recording Interview Consent Form — Sample Text
Copy this sample or browse more interview consent form examples. Download the editable PDF or Word version below.
CONSENT FORM FOR RECORDING AN INTERVIEW Project / Publication: [Title] Interviewer: [Name], [Organization] Contact: [email] | [phone] Interviewee: [Participant Name] Date of Interview: [Date] ─────────────────────────────────────── RECORDING PERMISSIONS Please indicate which types of recording you consent to: [ ] Audio recording (voice only) [ ] Video recording (face and/or screen) [ ] Both audio and video [ ] No recording — participation by notes only PURPOSE This recording will be used for: [ ] Transcription only (not shared or published) [ ] Academic research and publication [ ] Broadcast / podcast / media publication [ ] UX research / internal analysis only STORAGE AND ACCESS The recording will be stored on: [encrypted hard drive / secure cloud / institutional server]. Access is restricted to: [name authorised parties]. RETENTION The recording will be retained for [period] and then [deleted/archived]. YOUR RIGHTS I understand that I may: [ ] Request the recording be stopped at any time during the interview [ ] Request deletion of the recording after the interview [ ] Decline recording while still participating in the interview by notes TRANSCRIPT [ ] I consent to my words being transcribed from the recording [ ] I request to review the transcript before it is used in any publication ─────────────────────────────────────── Participant Signature: ______________________________ Date: ____________ Interviewer Signature: ______________________________ Date: ____________