Ask Parrent Smith Investigations

Your Recent Questions and Our Answers:

Q. I am going to a business meeting tomorrow and I suspect that at the meeting, one or more of my business partners are going to propose something that is illegal. Can I legally record our conversation without telling the partners that I'm doing so?

A. It depends where you are located. In California, for example, all parties to the conversation must give their consent to the recording, whether it is a recorded telephone conversation or the tape of a conversation made with everyone in one room. In New York, however, only one person must give consent for it to be legal.

Q. My company recently leased a new car for me. I know that the owner is always trying to figure out new ways to check up on the employees and I wanted to know if its legal for him to check the GPS data on the cars that the company leases, but that the employees drive?

A. The owner of the vehicle has the right to install and maintain any type of device that helps monitor vehicle deployment and proper usage. The employer does have an obligation, however, to inform the employee that a GPS unit may be used for the purpose of gathering information about the vehicle, such as mileage, speed etc.

Q. How long can fingerprints last on paper?

A. Fingerprints have been recovered from paper over forty years old. It all depends upon the conditions at the time the prints were made, and the surface they were made on.

Q. I was arrested and convicted of a felony over ten years ago. I want to know how long that stays on my record and for what period of time can it be reported to a prospective employer by someone hired to do a background check on me? Does it make any difference which state I live in?

A. In most states, criminal convictions can be reported in pre-employment investigations for a period of ten years after the date of conviction. However, in California, the limit is 7 years.

Q. I live with my girlfriend and I am beginning to suspect that she might be cheating on me. I own the home and pay for all the bills, including the telephone, which is in my name alone. Can I legally record the conversations on that phone to try and catch her?

A. This question has different answers, depending upon which state you live in. The federal law that governs the question of tape recording telephone conversations states that only one party to the conversation is required to give consent. In other words, it would be OK for you to record the conversation provided you were part of it. However, in California, ALL parties to the conversation must give their explicit consent to the recording. Under no circumstances can you record any telephone conversation to which you are not a party. That is illegal under federal and state laws.

Q. I have just graduated from high school and want to become a private investigator. Is this a good career path for a woman? Is there an "old boys club" that makes it harder for women to succeed in this career path?

A. That's a great question. There are many female investigators today and there's no reason why a woman can't do the job as well or better than a man. Since many private investigators work in their own firms or in smaller firms like ours, there is not the problem of an "old boys network" that there might be in larger organizations. I suspect, but don't know for a fact, that within some of the large private investigative companies there may be some greater barriers for women than for men. That is just my (Joanne's) opinion, however, having only worked for smaller companies and our own company. It would be worth investigating!