It’s not illegal at all. In Belgium, and probably all of the EER, a person can register phonecalls (s)he is taking part in. You don’t need to tell your doctor, boss, or anyone, that you are registering the call, though I would consider " not telling " rude in some cases.
For the doctor, or the boss, where you get advise, where you agree or accept future actions, where you get/give information… recording is very helpful as nobody can jot down that and listen on. And if necessary, you should be able to refer to the recording when one party did agree (or was informed) but didn’t comply (or take action)
I know that someone once asked “please don’t” considering it wasn’t productive. I didn’t record it, but jotted down on paper what I considered important.
After 3 days he sent me “the content of the talk” and surprise: some important stuff he had asked me to do wasn’t in the report. Some stuff we still"needed to talk because… " was mentioned as if everything was clear and agreed on.
So with that person, if there had been a similar talk, I would simply inform him that I were recording. Because that way I could go back to the content as often as I need to understand.
You cannot, though, record a conversation in which you aren’t participating, without explicit consent of all parties. That would be illegal.
And in writing? Wouldn’t they see you writing and ask questions or walk away?
Companies