Mozambique Recording Laws: All-Party Consent, Cybercrime Act, and Penalties (2026)

Quick Answer: All-Party Consent

Mozambique requires the consent of every party to a conversation before anyone may record it, intercept it, photograph or film its participants, or relay it to others. This standard is codified in the revised Penal Code (Lei 24/2019) under the heading "Crimes Against Privacy." Violations carry up to one year in prison plus a fine.

The rule covers every medium: face-to-face conversations, telephone calls (mobile, landline, and internet-based voice calls), text messages, emails, social media messages, and any data transmitted over a network. Recording your own side of a phone call without notifying the other person is a criminal offense if you do it with intent to invade that person's private life.

A narrow public interest exception exists in the Penal Code, but no court has clearly defined its scope. In practice, journalists and activists who covertly record powerful figures must rely on a vague statutory defense with no guarantee a court will accept it. The on-the-ground enforcement environment, particularly since the contested October 2024 general elections, makes covert recording highly dangerous.

Cybercrime Act and Cybersecurity Act (April 2026)

Mozambique's parliament, the Assembleia da Republica, approved two landmark digital laws in April 2026: a Cybercrime Act and a Cybersecurity Act. These laws were the product of years of legislative drafting led by the National Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (INTIC) and are the country's first comprehensive legal instruments specifically targeting digital offenses.

Cybercrime Act

The Cybercrime Act establishes criminal provisions and procedural rules for digital offenses. Key features include:

• Criminal liability for unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, and data.
• Rules governing the investigation of cyber offenses, including powers to compel disclosure of electronic communications data from service providers.
• Provisions for collecting electronic evidence and establishing chains of custody that courts will accept.
• A framework for international cooperation in cybercrime investigations.

The Act applies broadly to any individual or entity, public or private, that uses data communication networks or information systems in Mozambique.

The Cybercrime Act's evidence-collection provisions are relevant to recording law because they give authorities structured legal tools to compel internet service providers and telecommunications operators to produce stored communications, call detail records, and metadata. These powers extend to content data under court authorization, although the procedural details of judicial oversight remain to be tested in practice.

Cybersecurity Act

The Cybersecurity Act focuses on protecting critical information infrastructure and citizens in digital environments. It establishes a new National Cyber Security Authority (Autoridade Nacional de Ciberseguranca) with regulatory powers over digital sectors and the power to impose sanctions on entities that fail to meet cybersecurity standards.

INTIC stated that the new legal framework provides tools to safeguard critical information infrastructure and to prevent digital threats. The government asserts the legislation does not restrict internet access and is not directed at ordinary users.

Civil society organizations have called for independent oversight of the new Authority to prevent its powers from being used to justify surveillance of ordinary communications or to suppress digital journalism.

Relationship to the Penal Code

The Cybercrime Act does not replace or modify the Penal Code's privacy crime provisions in Lei 24/2019. The two regimes operate in parallel. The Penal Code addresses the act of recording or intercepting communications; the Cybercrime Act addresses unauthorized digital access and the collection of evidence from systems. A recording made in violation of the Penal Code could also trigger Cybercrime Act liability if it involved unauthorized access to a device, network, or stored data.

Penal Code Lei 24/2019: The Core Recording Law

The Mozambican Parliament approved the Penal Code amendments in July 2019. President Filipe Nyusi signed them into law on December 24, 2019. The revisions introduced a full chapter on privacy crimes that had no equivalent in the prior code (originally enacted as Law 35/2014).

Invasion of Private Life (Devassa da Vida Privada)

The central offense, invasion of private life (devassa da vida privada), is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine. It applies to anyone who, without consent and with intent to invade another person's private life (particularly the intimacy of family or sexual life), does any of the following:

• Intercepts, records, registers, uses, transmits, or discloses conversations or telephone communications.
• Intercepts, records, uses, transmits, or discloses images, photographs, videos, or audio.
• Captures, photographs, films, manipulates, records, or discloses images of people, intimate objects, or intimate spaces.
• Secretly observes or listens to people in private places.
• Discloses facts relating to the private life or serious illness of another person.
• Intercepts, records, uses, transmits, or discloses detailed billing records, email messages, social network messages, or communications on any data transmission platform.

This list covers virtually every form of modern communication and surveillance technology.

Illicit Recordings (Gravacoes Ilicitas)

A separate provision punishes, with the same penalty, anyone who:

• Records words spoken by another person that are not intended for the public, even if those words are addressed to the recorder.
• Uses or allows the use of such recordings, even if the recordings were lawfully produced.

The second element is particularly significant. A recording that was legally made at the time of creation can still trigger criminal liability if the person who holds it later allows someone else to use it without consent. Lawful production does not confer indefinite lawful use.

Photography and Filming

The Penal Code criminalizes photographing or filming another person without consent, even at events the subject legitimately attended. Using or allowing use of such material -- even if lawfully obtained -- is punishable under the same terms.

In literal application, this provision would require consent from every identifiable person photographed at a public gathering, sports event, or cultural festival. Enforcement at that scale would be unworkable, and senior judicial officials have stated the law targets clandestine, privacy-violating conduct rather than ordinary public photography. However, no case law has drawn a clear line, and legal uncertainty persists.

Intent Requirement

The privacy invasion offense requires proof of specific intent: the perpetrator must have acted with the intention of invading another person's private life. This mens rea element means that accidental recordings, incidental captures in public settings, or recordings made for purposes unrelated to privacy invasion may fall outside the offense. The intent requirement gives prosecutors discretion and defendants a potential defense.

The Public Interest Exception

The Penal Code includes an exception: the privacy invasion offense is not punishable when the conduct is "an appropriate means to realize a legitimate and relevant public interest." This tracks similar language in Portuguese law, which heavily influenced Mozambique's legal system.

The exception theoretically protects investigative journalists and whistleblowers. In practice it is vague. The law does not define "legitimate and relevant public interest," does not specify who makes that determination, and does not protect the recorder from being charged and prosecuted before the defense is raised. A journalist or activist records first and argues the exception later, at criminal trial.

Prosecution Depends on Complaint

For most privacy offenses, criminal prosecution requires a formal complaint (queixa) from the person whose privacy was allegedly violated. The state does not initiate prosecution on its own. This gives the offended party control over whether a case proceeds -- and means that powerful individuals can selectively weaponize the law against critics who record them.

Constitutional Framework

Article 41: Right to Honor and Privacy

Article 41 of the Constitution declares that all citizens have the right to their honor, good name, and reputation, as well as the right to defend their public image and to protect their privacy. This is the foundational privacy guarantee from which the Penal Code's recording restrictions derive their constitutional legitimacy.

Article 68: Inviolability of the Home and Correspondence

Article 68 states that the home and correspondence, as well as other forms of private communication, are inviolable, except as specifically provided by law. Entry into a home without consent may only be ordered by competent judicial authorities in instances and procedures established by law. This provision extends privacy protection to all forms of private communication, not just physical correspondence.

Article 65: Exclusion of Illegally Obtained Evidence

Article 65(3) provides that evidence obtained through abusive intrusion into a person's private and family life, home, correspondence, or telecommunications is legally invalid. This constitutional provision means that recordings obtained in violation of the Penal Code's consent requirements are inadmissible in Mozambican courts.

Article 71: Computerized Data

Article 71 prohibits the use of computerized means for recording and processing individually identifiable data relating to political beliefs, philosophical or ideological convictions, religious faith, party or trade union affiliation, or private lives. This provision reinforces the broader privacy framework and has particular relevance to digital surveillance and data aggregation.

Personal Data Protection Framework

Current Status: No Standalone Law

As of mid-2026, Mozambique has no comprehensive data protection statute. Privacy obligations are distributed across the Constitution, the Penal Code, the Labour Law, the Electronic Transactions Law (Law 3/2017), and sector-specific regulations.

Draft Personal Data Protection Bill (2025)

In September 2025, INTIC published a draft Personal Data Protection Bill for public consultation. The bill aims to:

• Establish clear rules for the collection, processing, and storage of personal data.
• Align Mozambique with the African Union Convention on Cybersecurity and Personal Data Protection, which Mozambique ratified in 2019.
• Create a National Authority for the Protection of Personal Data (ANPD) to oversee enforcement.

Following public consultation, the bill requires technical harmonization between government entities before submission to the Council of Ministers and the Assembleia da Republica for approval. No enactment timeline has been confirmed as of mid-2026.

When enacted, the law will impose new obligations on organizations that collect, store, or process audio or video recordings containing personally identifiable information.

Electronic Transactions Law (Law 3/2017)

The existing Electronic Transactions Law requires data controllers to maintain precise, complete, and updated personal information and to notify INTIC before processing personal data. Data processors must appoint compliance officers. These requirements apply to organizations storing audio or video recordings containing personal information, although enforcement has been minimal to date.

Penalties Summary

Prosecution for most Penal Code privacy offenses requires a formal complaint from the affected party. Judicial enforcement has been inconsistent, but the complaint-based mechanism means that powerful individuals can initiate prosecution selectively.

Civil Liability

Beyond criminal penalties, a person whose privacy is unlawfully invaded may bring a civil action for damages under general principles of the Mozambican Civil Code (which derives from Portuguese civil law). A successful civil plaintiff can recover compensation for pecuniary harm (lost income, professional injury) and non-pecuniary harm (emotional distress, reputational damage).

There is no published case law establishing standard compensation amounts for privacy violations in Mozambique. Civil proceedings are the more likely route for private parties who want financial redress rather than a criminal conviction.

Phone Call Recording

Recording a telephone conversation in Mozambique without the consent of all parties is a criminal offense when done with intent to invade privacy. The Penal Code explicitly lists "telephone communications" among protected categories. This applies to mobile calls, landline calls, and internet-based voice calls conducted over platforms such as WhatsApp, Zoom, or Teams.

A person who records their own call without telling the other party violates the illicit recordings provision: the law punishes recording words spoken by another person even when those words are addressed to the recorder. Both sides of the conversation must consent.

Government Interception: Decree 33/2001

Decree No. 33/2001 of November 6 governs telecommunications licensing. Article 35 requires licensed telecommunications providers to cooperate with "legal competent authorities regarding the legal interception of communications." The framework lacks detailed procedural safeguards: there is no specified process for obtaining an interception order, no defined duration limit, and no independent oversight body. The Cybercrime Act (April 2026) begins to address this gap by establishing a judicial authorization framework for electronic evidence collection, but its implementing regulations are not yet in force.

Telecommunications Law (Law 8/2004)

Article 68 of Law 8/2004 protects the secrecy of communications, with exceptions for criminal matters and national security, terrorism prevention, and organized crime. Article 10 grants the government authority to issue mandatory instructions to telecommunications operators during states of siege or emergency, including canceling a provider's license. During the post-election protests of October to December 2024, internet access was intermittently shut down in Mozambique, illustrating how these emergency powers operate in practice.

In-Person Recording

Recording face-to-face conversations follows the same all-party consent standard. The Penal Code does not distinguish between phone recordings and in-person recordings. Any recording of words not intended for the public, captured without the speaker's consent, can trigger criminal liability.

The "not intended for the public" qualifier is important. A speech delivered at a public rally, a statement made at a press conference, or comments made on a public street are, by their nature, intended for public consumption. Recording those statements does not require individual consent.

Private conversations in offices, homes, restaurants, or other settings where participants reasonably expect privacy fall squarely within the law's scope. Recording a business meeting, a conversation between colleagues, or a discussion in a closed room requires the consent of everyone present.

Recording Police and Public Officials

Recording interactions with police officers in Mozambique carries serious practical risk, independent of what the law technically permits or prohibits.

What the Law Says

The Penal Code does not specifically exempt police conduct from its recording restrictions. A recording of a police officer made in public -- during a crowd dispersal or at a checkpoint -- may be defensible under the public interest exception if the officer is acting in an official capacity in a public setting. Senior judicial officials have stated the recording restrictions target clandestine invasions of privacy, not public activities.

However, this interpretation has not been tested in litigation, and the law provides no explicit protection for people who record police.

The Post-Election Crackdown: October 2024 to Early 2025

The October 9, 2024 general election, in which Daniel Chapo of the ruling Frelimo party was declared the winner, triggered sustained protests by supporters of opposition candidate Venancio Mondlane. The protests, which continued into early 2025, resulted in more than 300 deaths, thousands of arrests, and a systematic assault on press freedom.

Authorities' response to journalists attempting to document the crackdown was severe:

• Around 15 journalists covering an October 21 statement by Mondlane were targeted with tear gas; five were injured and taken to hospital.
• In Insaca, five reporters had their phones confiscated for several hours after filming police shooting at protesters. The local State Information and Security Service (SISE) representative issued direct threats against them.
• Police arrested South African journalists Bongani Siziba and Sbonelo Mkhasibe (working for News Central) and local reporter Charles Mangwiro on November 14 in Maputo. They were transferred from a police station to a location described as "barracks" by an armed, masked team.
• At least nine journalists were assaulted or detained during the protest period, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
• Internet access was intermittently shut down at key moments of the crisis.

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) called on authorities to stop the post-election repression in November 2024. Amnesty International documented widespread human rights violations during the crackdown. Human Rights Watch reported in April 2025 that no arrests had been made in connection with post-election political killings.

RSF Ranking

Reporters Without Borders ranked Mozambique 99th out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index, an improvement of two places from the prior year. RSF reported in 2026 that press freedom is at a 25-year low worldwide. A marginal improvement in Mozambique's score does not mean conditions are safe for journalists who record authorities.

Practical Guidance

Anyone considering recording police or security forces in Mozambique should understand:

1. There is no explicit statutory right to record police in a public setting.
2. The post-election period demonstrated that authorities will confiscate phones and detain people who document their activities.
3. The public interest exception in the Penal Code is untested and provides no advance protection.
4. If you record police activity, encrypted storage and backing up to a remote service before any potential confiscation provides some protection for the footage even if the device is seized.

Workplace Recording and Surveillance

Labour Law (Act 13/2023)

The Labour Law (Act 13/2023 of August 25, 2023), which took effect February 21, 2024, contains specific rules on workplace surveillance.

Permitted uses of CCTV: Remote surveillance is allowed only when it serves the protection and security of people and goods, or when it is part of the normal production process of the company or sector. Surveillance for the purpose of monitoring employee behavior or performance is not authorized.

Written notice requirement: Employers who use remote surveillance must provide written notice to employees describing the existence and purpose of the surveillance. This notice constitutes legal proof of compliance. If an employer fails to provide written notice, any evidence obtained through the surveillance is null and void.

Communication privacy: An employee's personal correspondence, through any private means including letters and electronic messages, is inviolable except where expressly permitted by law. Employers may establish internal regulations governing use of company IT systems, but they cannot access private communications on those systems without legal authorization.

Personal data limits: Employers may not require employees or job applicants to provide information about their private lives unless specific requirements inherent to the nature of the job justify it.

Recording Conversations at Work

The Penal Code's all-party consent requirement applies in the workplace. An employee who records a meeting with a supervisor without consent, or an employer who records a conversation with an employee without giving notice, risks criminal liability. The Labour Law's surveillance provisions compound this: failure to provide written notice also renders the recording inadmissible.

Voyeurism and Non-Consensual Intimate Recordings

Mozambique's Penal Code provisions on privacy crimes function as the primary legal instrument against voyeurism and non-consensual intimate recording, even though the law does not use those terms explicitly.

The provision on "capturing, photographing, filming, manipulating, recording, or disclosing images of persons or of intimate objects or spaces" directly covers hidden camera recordings in bathrooms, changing rooms, hotel rooms, and similar private settings. The provision on disclosing such material also applies to the subsequent distribution of intimate imagery.

There is no dedicated revenge porn law in Mozambique as of mid-2026. However, the distribution of intimate images captured without consent falls within the scope of both the privacy invasion offense and the illicit recordings provision. Penalties are the same: up to one year in prison plus a fine.

The draft Personal Data Protection Bill would, if enacted, add an additional legal basis for challenging the processing and sharing of intimate imagery as personal data, but this framework does not yet exist.

Deepfake and AI-Generated Content

Mozambique has no dedicated law specifically addressing deepfake or AI-generated content as of mid-2026. INTIC and the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education (MCTES) are actively participating in regional and international AI governance discussions, including the African Union's Continental AI Strategy, but no national AI or deepfake legislation has been enacted.

Existing provisions offer partial coverage:

• The Penal Code's prohibition on "manipulating" images of persons can arguably apply to AI-generated manipulations of a real person's likeness, since the law uses broad language covering capture, manipulation, and disclosure.
• The privacy invasion offense's prohibition on disclosing "images" of persons without consent may apply to synthetic deepfakes that portray a real person in a private or intimate context.
• The disclosure of false information about a person's private life or serious illness is also covered by the Penal Code.

These existing provisions are imperfect instruments for addressing deepfakes because they were drafted before generative AI was widely available, and they require intent to invade private life. Political deepfakes designed to influence public opinion, rather than to invade an individual's privacy, may fall outside the intent requirement.

Mozambique's participation in the 2024 UNDP-supported electoral integrity platform to combat AI-driven disinformation shows awareness of AI risks, but that platform was not accompanied by legislation.

Cross-Border Recording

Mozambique follows the lex loci principle: Mozambican law applies to conduct that takes place on Mozambican territory. If you are physically in Mozambique and you record a conversation with a person who is also in Mozambique, Mozambican law governs, regardless of the nationalities of the parties or the location of any server storing the recording.

Several cross-border scenarios require particular attention:

Recording a call from outside Mozambique with a Mozambican party: The law of the recorder's jurisdiction governs the recorder's conduct. Mozambican law may govern the Mozambican party's conduct if they are in Mozambique at the time. If you are calling from a single-party consent country, you may lawfully record your side; the Mozambican party on their end may still have local obligations.

Using a cloud-based recording service: A recording platform hosted outside Mozambique that captures communications involving Mozambican residents may be subject to Mozambique's requirements under the Electronic Transactions Law and, once enacted, the Personal Data Protection Act.

Multi-country investigations: A journalist conducting an investigation that involves recording sources in multiple countries must comply with the most restrictive applicable law for each recording. Recording in Mozambique -- even as part of an international investigation based in a permissive jurisdiction -- subjects the recorder to Mozambican law while on Mozambican territory.

Bringing recorded evidence into Mozambique: Evidence obtained by recording in a permissive foreign jurisdiction and then used in Mozambican legal proceedings may be challenged under Article 65(3) of the Constitution if the recording violated Mozambican standards.

Journalism and Press Freedom

The recording provisions of the revised Penal Code triggered immediate and sustained criticism from press freedom organizations when enacted in 2019, and the situation has worsened since the contested 2024 elections.

The Public Interest Exception in Practice

The Penal Code's public interest exception theoretically protects investigative journalism. In practice, journalists must record first and argue the exception at trial. No published court decision has clearly defined the scope of the exception, and no regulatory guidance has been issued.

Post-2024 Election Environment

CPJ documented journalists being detained, assaulted, and having their equipment confiscated during the post-election crisis. MISA Mozambique, the Media Institute of Southern Africa's Mozambique chapter, has documented a systematic increase in press freedom violations since 2020.

The disappearance of journalist Ibrahimo Mbaruco in April 2020 while reporting near conflict zones in the north remains unresolved. His case illustrates the extreme risks facing journalists who work in sensitive areas.

Legislative Chilling Effect

The complaint-based prosecution mechanism means that powerful individuals -- politicians, business executives, security officials -- can selectively use the Penal Code against critics or journalists who record them. The journalist who exposes corruption through a covertly recorded conversation may face prosecution brought at the instigation of the official being exposed.

Press freedom organizations have repeatedly called for amendment of the Penal Code to include a clear, defined public interest defense with advance protection rather than a post-hoc trial defense.

Business Compliance Checklist

Companies operating in Mozambique that record calls, meetings, or customer interactions should take these steps to reduce legal exposure.

Obtain explicit consent before recording. Secure consent from all parties before a recording begins. Document consent in writing or through an audible notification at the start of the call.

Implement written workplace surveillance policies. If using CCTV or monitoring technology, use it only for security and safety purposes. Provide written notice to all employees describing what is monitored, the purpose, and how footage is stored and accessed.

Protect employee personal communications. Do not access employee personal messages on company devices without clear legal authorization. Establish IT policies that separate company communication channels (subject to monitoring with notice) from personal channels (protected).

Prepare for the Personal Data Protection Act. When enacted, the bill will require organizations to document the legal basis for all personal data processing, including recordings. Begin mapping what recordings you collect, retention periods, and access controls now.

Audit cross-border recording practices. If your organization records calls between Mozambique and other jurisdictions, ensure consent procedures comply with both Mozambican law and the law of the other party's location.

Retain counsel for investigations. If your organization needs to record for compliance, disciplinary, or investigative purposes, obtain specific legal advice before recording. The consent requirement has no automatic employment or disciplinary investigation exception under Mozambican law.