ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — While there may be times you are tempted to record a phone converstation without someone knowing it, legal experts would warn you against the practice.

Illinois law makes it a felony to intercept, record or transcribe any private telephone or electronic communication unless all parties give their consent, under 720 Ill. Compiled Statutes 5/14-2(a)(1).

This would also include the contents of text or email messages.

However, Illinois does make an exemption for recording police officers who are acting in the scope of their law enforcement duties, or while they are on the job.

Illinois is a two-party consent state, which means that it is illegal to record conversations in some circumstances unless all parties’ consent. This used to include the police as well, but the ACLU challenged the law in court in 2012. A new eavesdropping law was passed two years later to record public conversations involving police without their consent.

Illinois law also makes it illegal to record “another person without that person’s consent in a restroom, tanning bed, tanning salon, locker room, changing room, or hotel bedroom,” and prohibits the use of hidden cameras.

Penalties for the eavesdropping statute could result in up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $25,000.