Glossary
Microphone permission
Microphone permission is the approval a site needs before it can pick up audio from your device. It is granted per site in the same way as camera access, but it is its own switch, so a platform can hold one without the other.
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Where you see it
It is usually requested alongside the camera when you start two-way video, and on its own for voice-only features. The standing setting sits in browser site settings or in the device's privacy menu.
Why it matters
People check the camera and forget the microphone, and the microphone is the one that carries background conversation, a television or someone else in the room. If you want video without sound, deny the permission rather than using a mute button inside the site: mute is a platform control, while the permission is enforced by the browser or the operating system.