The company that produces school pictures for millions of children is pushing back against online speculation tying it to Jeffrey Epstein.
According to reporting by The Associated Press, some school districts have dropped plans to use Lifetouch after social media posts linked the company to Apollo Global Management. Apollo’s former CEO, billionaire investor Leon Black, had financial ties to Epstein.
Funds managed by Apollo purchased Lifetouch’s parent company, Shutterfly, in a $2.7 billion deal that closed in September 2019.
In a statement, Lifetouch said it is not named in the so-called Epstein files and that “no past or present member of Apollo’s Board of Directors or Apollo’s investors have ever had access to student images, for any purpose.”
The company also sought to reassure parents, saying student images are shared only for school record purposes and to allow purchase by a child’s parent or guardian.
“Lifetouch follows all applicable federal, state, and local data privacy laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA),” the company said.
It added that it does not share, sell or license student images to train artificial intelligence or facial recognition technology and has never done so.
Lifetouch shared the following information on its website:
At Lifetouch, student safety goes beyond the camera lens. As a trusted partner to schools for 90 years, we’re committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of every student we serve.
When Lifetouch photographers take your student’s picture, that image is safeguarded for families and schools, only, with no exceptions.
Lifetouch does not – and has never provided – images to any third party.
Amidst a sea of misinformation, here are the facts:
- Lifetouch images are shared only for the purposes of school records and to allow parents or guardians to purchase them. Additionally, as part of our decades long relationship with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Lifetouch prints SmileSafe cards free of charge for each student we photograph that families can use with law enforcement if a child goes missing.
- Lifetouch follows all applicable federal, state, and local data privacy laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). In fact, Lifetouch was the first school photography company to sign a voluntary and enforceable privacy pledge—reaffirming our deep commitment to protecting school communities.
- Lifetouch never shares, sells, or licenses student images to train AI models, including large language models, or facial recognition technology. Lifetouch has never provided images for such purposes to any other third party.
- Funds managed by subsidiaries of Apollo Global Management are investors in Shutterfly, the parent company of Lifetouch. Neither Apollo nor its funds are involved in the day-to-day operations of Lifetouch and therefore no one employed by Apollo has ever had access to any student images.
- Lifetouch is not named in the Epstein files. The documents contain no allegations that Lifetouch itself was involved in, or that student photos were used in, any illicit activities.
We value the trust you put in us to safeguard your students’ images, and we are proud to help families across the country preserve these milestone memories.
