What are biomed and biometrickitd?

biomed and biometrickitd are processes tied to fingerprint sign-in on your Mac.

What are these processes?

• biometrickitd: the BiometricKit daemon that manages fingerprint hardware and data, mainly Touch ID on supported MacBooks and Magic Keyboards
• biomed: the biometric daemon that handles fingerprint matching and enrolment

Together they manage the Touch ID experience on your Mac.

What do they handle?

These processes manage:

• Touch ID fingerprint enrolment (adding new fingerprints)
• Fingerprint matching when you sign in
• Talking to the Secure Enclave where fingerprint data is stored
• Providing fingerprint sign-in to apps and system services

Is fingerprint data stored on disk?

No. Fingerprint data never leaves the Secure Enclave, the dedicated security chip on your Mac. biometrickitd talks to the Secure Enclave to do matching, but the actual fingerprint templates are stored only in hardware. macOS and other software cannot read them.

Do they run on Macs without Touch ID?

They may load but do nothing on Macs without Touch ID hardware (desktop Macs without a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID, or older MacBooks).

Should you worry?

No. They are normal macOS security processes that make Touch ID work. Your fingerprint data is protected by hardware and never leaves the Secure Enclave.

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