Trusted Source is the threshold status an entity achieves through demonstrated consistency, reliability, and independent corroboration, serving as the prerequisite for Data River treatment by Knowledge Graph systems.

Jason Barnard defines Trusted Source as the gateway status that determines whether an entity's information is processed through the Data Lake (slow, batch updates) or the Data River (near-real-time continuous extraction). An entity earns Trusted Source status when three conditions are met simultaneously: consistency (the entity's information does not contradict itself across sources), reliability (the entity's canonical web property provides accurate, machine-readable information), and corroboration (independent third-party sources confirm the entity's claims). This is not a binary toggle but a threshold - below it, the entity remains in data lake processing with stale update cycles; above it, the Confidence Curator begins extracting from the entity's sources continuously. Trusted Source status is platform-specific: an entity may be a Trusted Source on Google (which has deep proprietary Entity Graph data) while remaining untrusted on platforms using third-party search APIs.

Trusted Source status is the practical objective of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Zero-Risk Year. Consolidation (Phase 1) fixes contradictions and establishes consistency. Lock-In (Phase 2) builds third-party corroboration. Together, they push the entity across the Trusted Source threshold. Once achieved, the payoff compounds: every subsequent update to the Entity Home propagates through the Data River in near-real-time, while competitors stuck in the Data Lake wait weeks for their corrections to take effect.

The threshold status that earns an entity continuous extraction from the Data River via the Confidence Curator. Requires consistency, reliability, and independent corroboration. Platform-specific - an entity may be trusted on one platform and untrusted on another. The practical objective of Zero-Risk Year Phases 1-2.