MyLife operates mylife.com, a people-search and reputation-profile site that publishes background profiles and a proprietary "Reputation Score" on both members and non-members, compiled from public records (including criminal history, court cases, and traffic infractions) and personal information licensed from third-party data brokers, and sold primarily via subscriptions. In July 2020 the Department of Justice, on referral from the FTC, sued MyLife.com, Inc. and founder/CEO Jeffrey Tinsley, alleging deceptive "teaser background reports" that implied search subjects had criminal or sex-offender records, undisclosed auto-renewing charges, and obstructed cancellation. In October 2021 a federal court granted partial summary judgment finding violations of the FTC Act, TSR, and ROSCA, and a December 2021 stipulated order entered judgments of $28,945,968 against the company (payment set at $16 million with the remainder suspended) and $5 million against Tinsley, plus a permanent ban on negative-option marketing. The site is now operated by InsightBridge LLC, which is registered in California's data broker registry, publishes CCPA request metrics, and offers profile-removal and opt-out mechanisms; its policy states it shares or sells personal information to customers, marketers, and other data brokers.
TRACK RECORD
5 ENFORCEMENT ACTIONS
[2021-12-16]
Under the December 2021 settlement announced by the FTC, MyLife.com and CEO Jeffrey Tinsley were banned from deceptive negative option marketing and agreed to separate judgments totaling $33.9 million, of which Tinsley pays $5 million and MyLife pays a judgment partially suspended at $16 million based on inability to pay; the funds were designated for consumer refunds, and the court approved the order on December 15, 2021.
Per the DOJ, a federal court's October 19, 2021 partial summary judgment order found that MyLife violated the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and ROSCA, and that MyLife was liable for $33.9 million in consumer redress; the subsequent stipulated order imposed 20-year compliance and reporting requirements.
The stipulated final order (Case No. 2:20-CV-6692-JFW, C.D. Cal.) entered a monetary judgment of $28,945,968 against MyLife.com, Inc. and $5,000,000 against Jeffrey Tinsley, ordered the company to pay $16,000,000 on a schedule with the remainder suspended (subject to lifting if financial representations prove false), and permanently enjoined both defendants from offering any product or service with a negative option feature.
The July 2020 complaint filed by DOJ on behalf of the FTC alleged that MyLife's "Teaser Background Report" suggested searched-for individuals had arrest or criminal records, sexual offenses, potential bankruptcies, liens, or legal judgments even when the individual had no such history, using prominent "View Court, Arrest, or Criminal Records" and "Sex Offender Status" buttons.
The FTC's 2020 announcement alleged that MyLife's billing practices violated ROSCA — failing to clearly disclose upfront charges or automatic renewal — and that the company made it difficult for consumers to cancel subscriptions or obtain refunds, and misrepresented its refund and cancellation policies in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
In its California Data Broker Registry filing, the registrant operating mylife.com (Insightbridge LLC) answered "Yes" to the question of whether it collects consumers' gender identity and gender expression data, and "No" to the registry's other sensitive-category questions, including minors' data, biometric data, and precise geolocation.
The July 2020 federal complaint described MyLife's product as consumer background reports whose search results include a "Reputation Score" about the searched-for individual, which the defendants represented was based on public information gathered from government, social, and other sources plus personal reviews written by others.
MyLife's privacy policy states that it collects public records about individuals — including criminal history, court cases, traffic infractions, real estate transactions, and civil lawsuits — and separately that it may receive or license personal information from third parties such as data brokers to enhance or add to its database.
California's data broker registry lists "Insightbridge LLC" as the registered data broker whose primary website is mylife.com, with a registered address at 1309 Coffeen Avenue, Suite 14998, Sheridan, Wyoming — a different address from the Los Angeles contact address given in the site's own privacy policy.
At the time of the 2020 federal complaint, MyLife.com, Inc. was a privately held Delaware corporation headquartered in Los Angeles; the complaint stated that founder, CEO, and chairman Jeffrey Tinsley held a major ownership interest and directed the company's billing, marketing, advertising, and subscription practices.
As of the privacy policy last updated April 9, 2026, the mylife.com service identifies its operator as InsightBridge LLC — which the policy also refers to as "MyLife" — with a Los Angeles contact address, rather than MyLife.com, Inc., the corporate defendant named in the 2020–2021 federal case.
In its California Data Broker Registry filing, the mylife.com registrant reported "No" to having sold or shared consumer data with foreign actors, the federal government, state governments, law enforcement, or generative-AI developers in the past year, and reported receiving 37,196 requests to opt out of sale or sharing in 2024, complying in whole with 36,677 and denying 519, with a median response of about 2 days.
The FTC's 2020 announcement of the complaint alleged that MyLife operated as a consumer reporting agency, promoted its reports as useful for housing, lending, and employment eligibility decisions, and violated the FCRA by failing to maintain reasonable procedures to verify how its reports would be used and that they were sold only for legally permissible purposes.
MyLife's privacy policy states that, as part of its services, it shares or sells personal information — including information received from third parties — with customers, subscribers, marketers, consumer retailers, online platforms, and data brokers for those parties' own business and marketing purposes.
The July 2020 complaint filed by DOJ on behalf of the FTC alleged that MyLife's "Teaser Background Report" suggested searched-for individuals had arrest or criminal records, sexual offenses, potential bankruptcies, liens, or legal judgments even when the individual had no such history, using prominent "View Court, Arrest, or Criminal Records" and "Sex Offender Status" buttons.
The FTC's 2020 announcement alleged that MyLife's billing practices violated ROSCA — failing to clearly disclose upfront charges or automatic renewal — and that the company made it difficult for consumers to cancel subscriptions or obtain refunds, and misrepresented its refund and cancellation policies in violation of the Telemarketing Sales Rule.
The stipulated final order (Case No. 2:20-CV-6692-JFW, C.D. Cal.) entered a monetary judgment of $28,945,968 against MyLife.com, Inc. and $5,000,000 against Jeffrey Tinsley, ordered the company to pay $16,000,000 on a schedule with the remainder suspended (subject to lifting if financial representations prove false), and permanently enjoined both defendants from offering any product or service with a negative option feature.
Under the December 2021 settlement announced by the FTC, MyLife.com and CEO Jeffrey Tinsley were banned from deceptive negative option marketing and agreed to separate judgments totaling $33.9 million, of which Tinsley pays $5 million and MyLife pays a judgment partially suspended at $16 million based on inability to pay; the funds were designated for consumer refunds, and the court approved the order on December 15, 2021.
Per the DOJ, a federal court's October 19, 2021 partial summary judgment order found that MyLife violated the FTC Act, the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and ROSCA, and that MyLife was liable for $33.9 million in consumer redress; the subsequent stipulated order imposed 20-year compliance and reporting requirements.
MyLife's privacy policy discloses the use of browser cookies and web beacons on its website and in its emails, states that third parties may collect personal information this way over time, describes ad-network relationships for interest-based advertising, and says it may combine information collected across third-party sites and across devices.