Selling Company Data in a US Insolvency: Who Acts and What Limits Apply

This page is general information, not legal advice. It covers US processes only. Insolvency and privacy law differ by state and case. Ask your own counsel.

This page covers US processes for now: an assignment for the benefit of creditors, a chapter 7 bankruptcy and a chapter 11 bankruptcy. It does not cover processes in other countries.

If you are the assignee, the chapter 7 trustee or the debtor in possession, confirm with counsel which assignment, state or federal law, and court orders govern your authority and who may consent to this deal. Three points to know first. The data may be an asset of the estate. Promises the company made about personal data can still limit what you may do. And nobody, including OpenTrain, can promise you a buyer, an offer or an amount.

This page sets out, process by process, who acts for the estate, the privacy limit to check first, and which guide to read. Then it shows how to see which AI data buyers fit the company.

Company data in an insolvency: what to find out first

Find out first which process you are in. Each one has a different person who acts for the estate, and a different privacy question to settle.
Privacy law can still apply to personal data after a company has stopped trading. Ask counsel which rules.
One application checks the company against every buyer we work with. No files and no company records are needed to start.

Disclosure: OpenTrain is an independent referrer. If a buyer we match you with credits your company's referral, that buyer may pay OpenTrain a referral reward. You pay OpenTrain nothing. We never receive or hold the data your company licenses. We keep the company and contact details you give us, and we send them to a buyer only when you ask us to.

See Which Buyers Fit

Takes about two minutes. You pay OpenTrain nothing.

If you are the assignee, trustee or debtor in possession, start here.

Who acts for the estate in each process

United States processes only. Who acts for the estate, the privacy limit to check first, and the guide to read. General information only.

Process	Who acts for the estate	Privacy limit to check first	Guide to read
United States: assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC)	The assignee, under the assignment, state law and any court order. In Florida, chapter 727 requires the assignee to collect and reduce the estate's assets to money, subject to the chapter's notice and objection process.	The company's own privacy promises. State law on the process.	Company data in an ABC
United States: chapter 7 bankruptcy	The chapter 7 trustee, who must collect and reduce to money the property of the estate (11 U.S.C. section 704(a)(1)).	A policy that prohibits transfer of personal information; the consumer privacy ombudsman rule in 11 U.S.C. sections 363(b)(1) and 332.	Section 363 sales and the ombudsman
United States: chapter 11 bankruptcy	Section 1107(a) gives a debtor in possession trustee rights, powers and duties, subject to its stated exceptions and court-imposed limits. Ask counsel who is authorized to act in this case.	Same as chapter 7.	Section 363 sales and the ombudsman

Six company data checks in an ABC, chapter 7 or chapter 11

Authority. Confirm in writing who acts for the estate and under which document: the assignment, the court order, the appointment.
Inventory. List each dataset, what it holds and where it sits. Keep the data as it is until counsel says otherwise.
Promises. Collect every privacy notice and customer contract. A promise to individuals or customers can limit what the person who acts for the estate may do with the data. Ask counsel which state laws, customer contracts, privacy promises, liens, licenses and confidentiality duties limit this transfer under the applicable process and orders.
Personal data. Identify it. Staff records are personal data too.
Third-party rights. The company can pass on only the rights it holds.
Questions from a buyer. Be ready to say where the data came from. Read preparing a data room for an AI data buyer.

What licensing your company's records means

Licensing means an AI data buyer pays for the right to use copies of a company's work records, under a signed license that says what is shared and how it is used. OpenTrain shows you which buyers fit. The license is between the buyer and the company, and a person authorized to act for the company or its estate signs it.

Which records AI data buyers want

Everyday work records, like the ones below. Export them while your tools still run, because once accounts close the data is often gone.

Email
Team chat
Documents and wikis
Customer and sales records
Support tickets
Code and project history
Step-by-step process guides

Keep personal files, customer payment data and patient records out of any license.

How personal information is handled

Every buyer we work with says on its own site that it removes or transforms personal information before your data is shared with others.
Before you sign, ask each buyer to show you in writing, with a sample, what personal information it removes or transforms, when it does so, and who can see your records before then.
OpenTrain does not remove personal information for you and cannot guarantee how a buyer does it.

Buyer A

What is removed or transformed
When
Who can see your records

ApproveApproved

Your records
Buyer explains what is removed or transformed
You review
You approve

Three steps to license your company's records

Answer a few questions about your company. Your industry, how many people work there, your role and where its records are kept. About two minutes.
See which buyers fit. We check your answers against each buyer's requirements and show you every buyer that fits, right away.
Apply, then decide. The buyer reviews the company and may make an offer. A person authorized to act for the company or its estate decides whether to sign.

Who can sign for the company or its estate

Each buyer makes its own decision about every company and may decline or may not contact you. We do not know whether any buyer would take on the data of a company in a given process above. Only a person who is authorized to act for the company or its estate, as applicable, may agree to a referral or apply to a buyer. The person must confirm that authority at the referral step. OpenTrain relies on that confirmation and does not verify it.

Sign a license before you share any records

First, ask each buyer to put its security and privacy terms in writing, and to confirm that nothing leaves your systems until you approve it.
Then a person authorized to act for the company or its estate signs a license that says what is shared, how it is used and what is paid.
Share data only after you sign, and only what the license names. OpenTrain does not audit or guarantee any buyer's security.

Your systems

Email
Team chat
Documents and wikis
Customer and sales records
Support tickets

LicenseBuyer A

What is shared
How it is used
What you are paid

SignSigned

ApproveApproved

Buyer A

Documents and wikis
Support tickets

You license your data straight to the buyer.We never receive, hold or sell that data.

How OpenTrain gets paid

OpenTrain costs your company nothing. If a buyer credits your referral, the buyer may pay us a referral reward. You license the records directly to the buyer. OpenTrain does not receive, store or sell those records. We keep the company and contact details you give us, and we send them to a buyer only when you ask us to. No referral reward a buyer pays OpenTrain is shared with the estate or with anyone acting for it. That includes an assignee, a trustee or a debtor in possession. Nothing is offered to any of them or to the staff of their firms.

Notes for counsel

If you advise the person who acts for the estate, the guides above lay out the checks in more detail, with questions to take to your own advisers. You can also pass this page to your client.

Common questions about company data in an insolvency

Can OpenTrain say what the data is worth or whether a buyer will make an offer?

No. Each buyer decides. We make no promise about any offer, amount or result.

Do I need to send you any data to find out?

No. No files and no company records are needed to apply.

What does it cost?

You pay OpenTrain nothing.

Who do I ask about privacy rules?

Your own counsel. See the questions below.

Questions to ask your own counsel

Which process and which appointment or court order govern this deal, and who may sign or consent for the estate?
Which privacy notices, customer contracts, licenses, liens and confidentiality duties limit what I can do with each dataset?
Which datasets hold personal data, and which law applies to each: state, federal or the law of another country?
For each use of the data, is the estate, the company or the buyer a controller, joint controller or processor, and what duties follow?
Is this deal ordinary course, and what notice, hearing or court order does this process require, including the Bankruptcy Rules, any local rule or, in a Florida ABC, section 727.111(4)?
In this chapter 11 case, who has authority to act, and what is the role of any trustee?
If I decide not to license the data, what must I keep, delete or return, and by when?
What duties do I have to individuals who ask for access to or deletion of their data?
What could I be personally liable for if the data is used in a way the company promised against?

See which buyers fit your company

Answer a few questions. You'll see each buyer that fits right away.