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.
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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.
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“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.
