Why AI note takers need microphone access, and what the permission does and doesn't allow

An AI note taker can only transcribe what it can hear, and on your computer your own voice exists only at the microphone: the meeting app sends it to the other participants but does not play it back to you. That is why desktop note takers such as Granola, Otter's desktop app and Fireflies' desktop app ask for microphone access to capture you (and anyone in the room with you), and on a Mac also for Screen & System Audio Recording, the macOS permission that lets an app capture the meeting's sound, which carries everyone else. Meeting bots such as Otter Notetaker join the call as a participant and hear everyone through the meeting itself, so they do not need your microphone. The permission lets an app listen while it runs; whether it records automatically, keeps the audio and tells the candidate are separate settings to check. Product details below are as of November 2026.

What does each permission let a note taker hear?

Older macOS versions label the second Mac permission "Screen Recording." Windows 10 uses slightly different wording ("Allow desktop apps to access your microphone") under Settings, Privacy, Microphone.

Why does a note taker need my microphone if the meeting already has my voice?

Because the meeting has your voice on its servers and on the other participants' computers, not on yours. A bot sits in the meeting, so it receives your voice the way the candidate does. A desktop app sits on your computer, where your voice only ever passes through the microphone on its way out. So a desktop note taker listens in two places: the microphone for you and the computer's sound output for everyone else.

Keeping the two apart is also how these apps tell speakers apart. Granola's transcription help page says green bubbles "are from your microphone — that's you, and anyone else in the same room," and grey bubbles "are from your computer's system audio." Interview Signal, which we make, uses the same split for interviews: the microphone is labelled as the interviewer and the meeting's sound as the candidate, with no bot in the call; its audio troubleshooting guide covers the Mac and Windows settings.

Which kinds of note takers ask for which permissions?

The capture method also changes what you get. Fireflies says recording without its bot "does not save audio or video files" and that speakers appear as "Speaker 1 / Speaker 2" rather than by name, per its bot-free recording guide. For the wider bot versus bot-free comparison, see AI note takers without a bot.

Why does a Mac ask for screen recording when I only want audio?

Because macOS groups system audio with screen capture in one privacy pane, now named Screen & System Audio Recording. Apple's page lets you allow "both your screen and audio, or just your audio," but whether an app works with audio alone depends on how it captures, and some apps use the screen part on purpose: Otter says its desktop app can "capture shared content during supported meetings." Read the app's help page before choosing. Two practical points from the vendors: Otter tells Mac users to "Quit & Reopen" after switching a permission on, and to "restart the app after enabling permission settings," so allow it before the interview, not during it.

Does microphone access mean the app is always listening?

Not by itself, but the permission is not the control that decides it. What to look at:

• The system's own indicators. On a Mac, Apple says the recording indicator in Control Center "shows when your computer's microphone is in use or has been used recently." On Windows, Microsoft says "a microphone icon appears in the notification area of the taskbar when an app is using the microphone."
• Windows' limits. Microsoft says desktop apps "cannot be individually toggled" and "might still be able to access your camera or microphone even when these settings are turned off." On Windows, trust rests on the app and your IT controls more than on the switch.
• Automatic recording. Otter's desktop app "can automatically detect, start, and stop a recording for a meeting," and Fireflies' app can detect a meeting and prompt you. Decide whether you want that on for interviews, where consent comes first.
• Everything else that plays. Microsoft's loopback documentation says loopback capture "by default contains the mix of all audio being played," so mute other calls, music and notification sounds during an interview.
• What happens to the audio. Whether a tool keeps a recording is a storage setting, covered in AI note takers that don't store audio, and where data goes is covered in meeting bot vs on-device note taker security.

Do you still need the candidate's consent?

Yes. A microphone permission is an agreement between you and your computer; it does nothing about recording laws, which turn on the people in the conversation. Otter's help page says to "notify participants and obtain any consent required by applicable law or your organization's policies," and Fireflies says that if you disable one of its notice options "you are responsible for informing participants." Apple adds that information collected by third-party apps "is governed by their terms and privacy policies." For what the law requires and how to say it, see is it legal to record a job interview, two-party consent states and the interview recording consent script.

What should you check if the transcript is missing a voice?

Run one test call with a colleague before a real interview: speak, have them speak, and check that both voices appear under the right labels. If you are still choosing a tool, the security questions to ask an AI note taker vendor include the permission and storage questions above.