Article

What TrustPast does, and what it doesn't

By TrustPast

Updated November 1, 2026

An owner who gets an email from us usually asks two things. Who are these people, and where do they sit between me and the buyer? It’s a fair question, because most firms that write to owners want a fee, a mandate or a seat at the table. This page lists what TrustPast does and what it doesn’t, each line taken from a page we’ve already published, so you can check every word.

The short answer

We do five things. We look for companies that may qualify. We write to the owner. We run the estimate. We explain micro1’s programme in plain words. And we send you to micro1’s application through our link.

We don’t do the rest. We never receive, store or see your company’s records. We don’t apply for you, join the calls, set the price or sign anything. We’re not your lawyer, your accountant or your broker. And we don’t sell your contact details.

Our about page puts it in one line: “TrustPast exists to explain the process plainly and estimate a range.” Everything below is the long version of that sentence.

Worth two minutes to see where your company sits first? Our estimate asks five questions.

See your estimate

What we do: look for companies that may qualify

We don’t wait for owners to find us. We look for companies that have operated for years, because years of records are what the buyer weighs.

Our privacy policy says where we look, in section 4.3. We use business contact details “from the companies’ own websites and from public sources.” Those include “public government notices, such as WARN Act filings.” For closed companies, it says we may also use a business-contact data provider “to find former owners and officers.”

What we hold about a company is short. A name, a business email address, the company name and a job title. Then public business facts: size, years in operation and systems used. That’s the whole list in the policy.

None of it is your records. We see that a company exists, how long it has traded and roughly how big it is. We don’t see a single estimate, job file or email.

What we do: write to the owner

When a company looks like a fit, we write to the owner. The privacy policy says it plainly: “We email people at companies we believe may qualify.”

Every email we send carries our postal address and gives you a way to opt out. The policy says we honor opt-outs within 10 business days. After that, your address goes on a suppression list “so we never contact you again.” We follow the US CAN-SPAM Act.

We keep outreach records, meaning the company, the contact, the emails sent and any reply, while a campaign runs and for 24 months after it ends. Opt-outs are kept for good, because that’s what makes them hold.

If you’d rather we didn’t write again, reply “stop” and we won’t. If you want to know what we hold about you, ask. The policy says we answer within 30 days.

Our page on how we use your email address sets out what we hold, for how long, and how to have it deleted.

What we do: run the estimate

Our estimate asks five questions. Is the company operating or closed, and is it in the US? How many people work there, now and at peak? How many years of records does it keep? Which systems hold the work? Which industry is it in?

Your browser turns those answers into a range. Our privacy policy says the answers “are not sent to us or to the buyer, and we do not store them.” We never see them.

The range is ours, and it isn’t an offer. The line under it says so: “Indicative range, not an offer. micro1 prices each company after its own review; only the buyer makes offers.” Our terms of use say the same in legal words: the estimate “is for information only. It is not binding.”

For a company of 30 or more people, the range sits inside micro1’s published band. micro1’s referral page lists company compensation of “$100K-$2M+ for approved data packages” (indicative, not an offer). How our five answers become a range is set out on what our estimate measures. Why micro1’s figure can land somewhere else is on why the final offer can differ from the estimate.

What we do: explain the programme in plain words

Most of what we write is explanation. What micro1 asks for, what happens after you apply, what stays out, what it costs your office in time.

We hold ourselves to one rule there. Every claim about micro1 is micro1’s own published wording, quoted and credited. If micro1 doesn’t publish something, we say it doesn’t, and we suggest you ask.

Here’s an example. micro1 lists four steps on its data partnerships page: “Discovery & pricing,” “Contracting,” “Delivery & acceptance” and “Payment.” We can quote those. We can’t tell you how long the discovery call runs, because micro1 doesn’t publish it. Our page on what happens on the discovery call says so in as many words.

The same goes for the money. micro1 says “Compensation is determined based on the characteristics and value of the data being contributed.” It also says “Each partnership is evaluated individually.” So we explain the factors micro1 names. We never tell you what micro1 will pay your company.

The centre of all this is what the buyer is after. It isn’t your customer list. It’s how the work was done: how an estimate became a job, how a change order was settled, how a repair was diagnosed. Our cornerstone page on what data buyers want from a trade business goes through those files one at a time.

What we do: send you to micro1 through our link

The last thing we do is the button. It takes you to micro1’s own application through our link.

Our privacy policy, section 4.2, says what that link records. “We count the clicks on them, by the page the link was on. We do not record who clicked.” The one exception is a link in an email we sent to a past estimate sign-up. We stopped taking email addresses on 19 October 2026.

Then you’re on micro1’s page, filling in micro1’s form. micro1’s referral page says the company’s point of contact “sets up the company’s profile on the company portal” and “completes data manifest.” It also says “Companies must register and complete their own applications through the referral link.”

From that point the process is micro1’s. Our page on what happens after you apply walks through it in micro1’s words.

How we’re paid

micro1 pays us a referral fee when a company that applied through our link completes a deal. Your company pays us nothing. We don’t share our fee with any referred company.

Our page on how TrustPast is paid explains when the fee is paid and when it isn’t.

That’s all in our referral disclosure, which is eight short sections long. The How it’s safe page adds one more line: “We are not a broker or an agent.”

The fee is micro1’s to pay, not yours. Our page on whether licensing your records costs anything counts the cost that is real, which is your office’s time.

What we don’t do: see your records

This is the line owners ask about first, so here it is in our own published words. “We never receive, store or handle your company’s files or systems. Samples and data pass directly between your company and the buyer, under their own agreement.”

That covers every stage. We don’t see the data manifest you fill in. We don’t see the samples micro1 shows you. We don’t see the transfer, the review or the approval.

The How it’s safe page has a list called “What we never ask for.” Your files, exports, samples or screenshots of records. Logins, passwords or access to any system. Customer, employee or payment details. If anyone asks you for those in our name, it isn’t us.

What we don’t do: apply for you or join the calls

We don’t fill in your application. micro1 doesn’t allow it anyway. Its referral page says “Manual introductions, applications submitted on behalf of a company, and direct meeting requests do not replace the official application process.”

We’re not on the interview or the discovery call either. How it’s safe says “The calls, any samples and the agreement are between your company and the buyer.”

micro1 describes those calls itself. “Qualified companies are invited to connect with a Data Partnership Manager to discuss their data, licensing terms, and next steps.” That’s a conversation between your company and micro1. We’ll have explained what to have ready. We won’t be in the room.

We don’t speak for micro1, either. We’re an independent referral partner. micro1’s own referral page says referral partners “must not represent themselves as micro1 employees or official representatives.”

What we don’t do: set the price or sign

We don’t price your records. Our referral disclosure says “the buyer alone reviews, prices and licenses.” Our terms add: “The buyer alone decides whether to make an offer, and at what price.”

We don’t sign anything, and we’re not a party to your agreement. How it’s safe says “Nothing is licensed until your company signs an agreement with the buyer. We are not a party to that agreement, and nothing passes through us at any step.”

So the terms are between your company and micro1. micro1 says its contracting step establishes “clear licensing terms, including a commitment not to resell or distribute your data until personal and identifying information has been anonymized.” It says that before any participation, it confirms four points with the company: “U.S. and allied buyers only,” “Data segregation,” “De-identified before sharing” and “Defined retention periods.” Those are micro1’s commitments to you, not ours.

You also don’t sign anything with us. The “What we never ask for” list includes “An agreement with us. You sign only with the buyer, if you sign at all.”

What we don’t do: promise an offer, a price or a date

Our terms of use say it in one line: “We do not guarantee any offer, any price, or any timeline.”

micro1 is just as direct about its side. “All companies must complete micro1’s qualification and evaluation process.” And “There is no guaranteed timeframe between application and partnership completion.”

What micro1 does publish is the timing after transfer. “Once your company transfers its data, micro1 has 30 days to review and approve it.” After approval, it asks for an invoice, and “payment will be made within 30 days of invoicing.” That’s micro1’s commitment. We quote it; we can’t change it.

What we don’t do: act as your lawyer or accountant

Our terms of use, section 5, say “We are not a broker, an agent, a law firm, an accountant or a financial adviser. Nothing on this site is legal, tax, accounting or financial advice.”

Section 6 puts two jobs with you. Confirming that your company owns the rights to its records. And your own legal review before you agree to anything with the buyer.

Our advice is to have your own counsel read the agreement. Our page on whether you need a lawyer covers how to brief one for a short job. Tax on the payment is a question for your accountant, and our page on tax on a records licence lists what to bring.

What we don’t do: sell your contact details

Our privacy policy, section 8, opens with one line. “We do not sell or share personal information.” Section 5.1, on the buyers, says we share nothing with them, and that you apply to the buyer yourself, through our link.

So we don’t pass your details to micro1. What micro1 knows about your company is what you type into its form.

The privacy policy also lists the service providers that process information for us, in section 5.2, and how long we keep each kind of record, in section 6. We don’t restate those here. The policy is the text that counts, so read it there.

Where the exact words live

We’ve quoted our own pages on purpose. A summary can drift; the source can’t. If you want the binding wording, these are the pages:

The privacy policy: what we collect, where it comes from, who gets it, how long we keep it, and how to ask us to delete it.
The referral disclosure: who buys, how we’re paid, what you pay, and the line that we never touch your files.
The terms of use: the estimate isn’t an offer, no guarantee, what we’re not, and your responsibilities.
How it’s safe: who holds what at each step, from the estimate to the contract.
The programme page for 30 or more people: micro1’s own words, from the application to the agreement.

If any line on this page reads differently from those, the policy wins. Tell us, and we’ll fix this page.

What this means for a company with 30 or more staff

Here’s one company, as our own example, not a case micro1 publishes. An HVAC contractor with 45 people and eighteen years of records. micro1 says it’s looking for “established companies with 30+ full-time employees,” so it’s in range.

How it hears from us. We find it from public sources: its own website, its size, its years in operation. We write to the owner, with our postal address and an opt-out in every email.

What it does with us. The owner runs the estimate. Five answers, a range in the browser, nothing sent to us. The office manager reads a few of our pages to see what micro1 asks for.

What it does without us. The office manager fills in micro1’s profile and data manifest. She lists the estimates in the estimating software with every revision since 2011. The job files and work orders in the field service system since 2016. The service tickets, with the diagnosis and the parts used on each call. The owner and the service manager take the call with micro1’s Data Partnership Manager. Their lawyer reads the agreement. The owner signs, or doesn’t.

What we never touch. Every one of those files. The manifest, the samples, the agreement and the payment all run between the contractor and micro1.

What it pays us. Nothing. If the deal completes, micro1 pays us a referral fee.

What micro1 is pricing, if the fit holds, is the reasoning in those records. The bid that rose after the site visit, and the note on why. The work order where the first tech replaced a capacitor and the second found the real fault. Our pages on estimates and quotes and job files and work orders show what counts in each.

What is never included

Our own records about you are short, and none of them is your company’s records. When it comes to the records themselves, micro1 says “We protect sensitive information through data anonymization and secure handling.” Asked whether a company needs to anonymize its data first, it answers “No, micro1 has processes for de-identifying and transforming sensitive information.”

micro1 doesn’t publish a fixed list of exclusions. What follows is our own advice, not micro1’s. Customer names and payment details are never what’s wanted. Keep out health information, payment-card and financial-account details, Social Security numbers, minors’ data, attorney-client privileged records, and anything a client owns under its contract with you. Our page on what is never included goes through where each one hides.

Where we fit

We, TrustPast, are a small US advisory. We ran a software studio for eleven years and licensed our own archive in 2026. Going through it, we saw what most owners don’t know they have. We find companies, write to owners, run the estimate, explain the programme and hand you a link. micro1 does everything after that, and pays us a referral fee if a deal completes. You pay us nothing.

If that split sounds right, start with the five questions. Worth two minutes to see your range?

TrustPast

Questions and answers

Does TrustPast ever see our records?

No. Our referral disclosure says: “We never receive, store or handle your company's files or systems. Samples and data pass directly between your company and the buyer, under their own agreement.”

Will TrustPast apply to micro1 for us?

No. You apply yourself, through our link. micro1's referral page says the same from its side: “Companies must register and complete their own applications through the referral link.”

Who sets the price, TrustPast or micro1?

micro1. Our referral disclosure says “the buyer alone reviews, prices and licenses.” Our estimate is a range worked out from five answers, and our terms of use say it is not binding. micro1 says “Each partnership is evaluated individually.”

Does TrustPast charge the company anything?

No. micro1 pays us a referral fee when a company that applied through our link completes a deal. Your company pays us nothing, and we don't share the fee with any referred company. The full text is our referral disclosure.

Can TrustPast tell us whether the agreement is fair?

No. Our terms of use say we are not a broker, an agent, a law firm, an accountant or a financial adviser, and that the legal review before you agree to anything is yours. Have your own counsel read the agreement.

Do you sell our contact details?

No. Our privacy policy says: “We do not sell or share personal information.” It also says we share nothing with micro1. Its section 4.3 lists what we hold about the people we write to and how long we keep it.