Kentucky Educational Development Corporation to reinstate Lifetouch as preferred vendor

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The Kentucky Educational Development Corporation has announced it has decided to reinstate Lifetouch as a preferred vendor for school photography.

According to KEDC, the decision follows a “comprehensive and deliberate review process.” Earlier this month, KEDC had suspended use of Lifetouch services.

KEDC states it understands some concerns that were raised regarding Shutterfly’s “historical association with Jeffrey Epstein” and that it “took those concerns seriously from the beginning.”

Over the course of this evaluation, KEDC says it did the following:

•  Conducted a fact based review of publicly available records detailing the nature, scope, and
  timeline of the reported associations.
• Reviewed corporate governance structures to determine the operational relationship between
  Shutterfly and Lifetouch.
•  Sought independent legal guidance to assess any potential risk exposure for member districts.
• Examined current data security, student privacy, and compliance policies at Lifetouch.
• Consulted industry experts to evaluate best practices in student data protection and vendor
  accountability.
•  Reviewed vendor agreements and contractual safeguards currently in place.

“We approached this process methodically and without assumption, ensuring our conclusions were grounded in verified information rather than speculation,” KEDC stated.

The corporation states it found through investigation that the “historical associations referenced were tied to past investment relationships that are no longer active or connected to present day operations. Lifetouch functions with its own leadership structure and operates under established data privacy, security, and compliance frameworks aligned with industry standards and legal requirements. We found no evidence of current affiliations or business practices that would compromise student safety, data protection or district trust.”

The release by KEDC did not specify the nature of Shutterfly’s past investment relationships mentioned.

Based on information KEDC states it gathered, the corporation says it concluded Lifetouch meets its expectations for “professionalism, service quality and student data safeguards.”

According to KEDC, member districts have the option to chose the vendor that best meets their needs.

In a public statement, Lifetouch CEO Ken Murphy stated:

“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.”

Murphy says the company is committed to protecting the privacy and personal information of students.

“As news media outlets are now widely reporting, these claims are completely false. No Lifetouch executives have ever had any relationship or contact with Epstein and we have never shared student images with any third party, including Apollo. Apollo and its funds also have no role in Lifetouch’s daily operations and have no access to student images. In fact, Apollo funds did not acquire Shutterfly, Lifetouch’s parent company, until September 2019 — two months after Epstein was put in jail and a month after Epstein’s death,” a spokesperson for Lifetouch told WNKY News.

KEDC states it will continue monitoring partners to ensure standards “of safety, transparency and ethics.”