Did school picture contractor LifeTouch put "you and every other American kid" in the Epstein files? No, that's not true: There's no evidence that all 49 million American schoolchildren are in the Justice Department's files. Even if LifeTouch did share school pictures and student information with Epstein, that company only accounts for a quarter of the contracts awarded to school picture companies. The company name appears in the Department of Justice's online library of released files about pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, but only once, on a minor charge on a monthly statement for a debit account whose owner name was redacted.
The claim appeared in a Feb. 7, 2026 TikTok video (archived here) on the @sweating030bullets account with screen text that began "You and every other American kid are literally in the Epstein files". It continued:
all bc of the largest company (LifeTouch) that's comes and takes your SCHOOL PICTURES, (they never delete your pictures btw they keep them with your name age and info)
This is what the video looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Feb 18 20:00:47 2026 UTC)
Even if LifeTouch had violated federal educational privacy laws, it doesn't have access to all 49 million U.S. schoolchildren's names, ages, teachers and schools.
According to a 2026 report by the market research firm Strategic Revenue Insights, (archived here) US school photos are a $1.2 billion business and LifeTouch controls just one quarter of the global school photo business. It's the biggest player in the market, but only one of five large companies operating in North America, which makes it impossible for one company to have given Epstein the personal information of every schoolchild in America.
Lead Stories made multiple requests for comment from LifeTouch, and will update this fact check when they reply.
LifeTouch CEO Ken Murphy said in an undated blog post (archived here) that the claim is untrue:
Lifetouch does not - and has never provided - images to any third party ... Lifetouch follows all applicable federal, state, and local data privacy laws, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) ... 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.
Lead Stories searched the U.S. Department of Justice online library of files gathered during investigations of the now-dead financier, who was facing sex trafficking charges when he killed himself in his jail cell. In that database, two copies of the same Citibank debit card statement (archived here) show a $106 payment to LifeTouch, although it's not clear who the debit card payments were made by or for, since the account holder's name is redacted. Below is a graphic Lead Stories created using screenshots of the document:
(Image source: Lead Stories montage using screenshots from US DOJ Epstein files item #EFTA00124090.)
