There is no federal law that sets how long funeral homes keep fingerprints on file, so most keep them indefinitely. Digital fingerprint files are small, storage is cheap, and families sometimes return years later to order a new piece of memorial jewelry or a tattoo design from the same print. The actual retention period at any given funeral home depends on its internal policy, whether a third-party keepsake vendor also holds a copy, and whether your state has a biometric privacy law that forces destruction on a set schedule.
Why There Is No Fixed Retention Period
Fingerprint collection at a funeral home is an optional service, usually tied to a memorial keepsake like an engraved pendant or framed artwork. Because it is not a legally required part of the funeral, no federal statute tells the funeral home when to destroy the file.
The FTC’s Funeral Rule requires funeral providers to keep price lists for at least one year from their last distribution, and to keep each completed statement of goods and services for at least one year from the arrangements conference.1Federal Trade Commission. 16 CFR Part 453 – Funeral Industry Practices That rule covers pricing paperwork. It does not cover biometric data, and fingerprints fall outside its scope entirely.
In practice, “indefinitely” is a custom rather than a guarantee. A funeral home without a formal data retention policy may still purge old files during office cleanups, software migrations, or ownership changes, and families are rarely notified when that happens.
State Biometric Privacy Laws Can Shorten the Timeline
A handful of states have passed biometric privacy laws that apply to any private entity collecting fingerprints, facial geometry, iris scans, or similar identifiers. These laws typically require the collecting entity to publish a written retention and destruction policy, obtain informed consent before collection, and permanently destroy the data once the original purpose for collecting it has been fulfilled. In the strictest states, destruction must happen when the initial purpose is satisfied or after a set number of years from the person’s last interaction with the entity, whichever comes first.
Whether these statutes reach prints taken from a deceased person is still being worked out. At least one lawsuit has tested the theory that a memorial keepsake company and its partner funeral homes violated a state biometric privacy law by collecting, retaining, and sharing fingerprints without proper consent from the next of kin. If you live in a state with a biometric privacy statute, ask the funeral home whether it has a published retention schedule and whether that schedule covers prints taken from the deceased.
The Keepsake Vendor Also Keeps a Copy
Funeral homes rarely make memorial jewelry themselves. They send the fingerprint file to an outside vendor that specializes in engraving or casting keepsakes. Once that happens, a second company holds the biometric data under its own privacy policy.
LegacyTouch, one of the larger memorial fingerprint companies, categorizes uploaded fingerprints as personal biometric information and states it may use the data to fulfill orders, maintain security, comply with court orders, or support corporate transactions like mergers or acquisitions. The policy also says the company may aggregate or de-identify personal data for other purposes. It does not specify how long it retains fingerprint files.2LegacyTouch. Privacy Policy
When you agree to a fingerprint keepsake, you are sharing biometric data with at least two entities. Ask both the funeral home and the vendor what their retention practices are, and whether they will delete the file after the product ships if that is what you want.
How to Get Your Own Copy
If you need a copy of a loved one’s fingerprints, contact the funeral home that handled the arrangements. The person who arranged the service, the legal next of kin, or someone with legal authority over the estate is typically the one who can make the request. The funeral home will usually verify your identity and your relationship to the deceased before releasing the file.
Timing matters. The longer you wait, the greater the chance the funeral home has changed ownership, migrated to a new records system, or lost track of older files. Requesting a digital copy at the time of service is the most reliable way to make sure you always have access. Ask for the file in a common image format so you can store it yourself and share it with any vendor later.
What Happens If the Funeral Home Closes
Funeral homes close, merge, or change hands more often than families realize. What happens to records when that occurs depends on state licensing rules. Many states require a closing funeral establishment to transfer its records to the new owner or a designated custodian, and the new owner must maintain those records for whatever period state regulations specify. Some states set that period at seven years or longer.
Fingerprint files collected as an optional memorial service may not fit neatly into the “funeral records” category that transfer rules are designed to protect. A fingerprint file saved on a funeral director’s personal computer can easily be lost in a business closure. If the original funeral home no longer exists, contact your state funeral licensing board to find out whether another establishment took over its records. Also check with the third-party keepsake vendor, which may still have a copy.
If You Want the File Destroyed
Permanent deletion of a digital file is harder than it sounds, because standard deletion often leaves recoverable data on the storage device. The federal standard for data destruction is NIST Special Publication 800-88r2, which describes clearing, purging, and physical destruction as progressively stronger levels of sanitization.3National Institute of Standards and Technology. Guidelines for Media Sanitization (NIST SP 800-88r2) Most funeral homes are small businesses without dedicated IT staff, so how closely they follow that standard varies.
If long-term privacy matters to you, ask the funeral home and the keepsake vendor to confirm in writing that the biometric data has been destroyed once the memorial product is complete. A written confirmation gives you something to point to later if a records question ever comes up.