diff --git a/Backend/File.hs b/Backend/File.hs
index f88bb7c704..0b1cdd8e52 100644
--- a/Backend/File.hs
+++ b/Backend/File.hs
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ module Backend.File (backend, checkKey) where
 
 import Control.Monad.State
 import System.Directory
+import Data.List (intersect)
 
 import TypeInternals
 import LocationLog
@@ -91,11 +92,16 @@ checkRemoveKey key numcopiesM = do
 	if force || numcopiesM == Just 0
 		then return True
 		else do
+			g <- Annex.gitRepo
+			locations <- liftIO $ keyLocations g key
+			trusted <- getTrusted
+			let trustedlocations = intersect locations trusted
 			remotes <- Remotes.keyPossibilities key
+			untrustedremotes <- reposWithoutUUID remotes trusted
 			numcopies <- getNumCopies numcopiesM
-			if numcopies > length remotes
-				then notEnoughCopies numcopies (length remotes) []
-				else findcopies numcopies 0 remotes []
+			if numcopies > length untrustedremotes
+				then notEnoughCopies numcopies (length untrustedremotes) []
+				else findcopies numcopies (length trustedlocations) untrustedremotes []
 	where
 		findcopies need have [] bad
 			| have >= need = return True
diff --git a/CmdLine.hs b/CmdLine.hs
index cb164a6ab2..7eab0a7e28 100644
--- a/CmdLine.hs
+++ b/CmdLine.hs
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ import qualified Command.Lock
 import qualified Command.PreCommit
 import qualified Command.Find
 import qualified Command.Uninit
+import qualified Command.Trust
+import qualified Command.Untrust
 
 subCmds :: [SubCommand]
 subCmds =
@@ -61,6 +63,10 @@ subCmds =
 		"de-initialize git-annex and clean out repository"
 	, SubCommand "pre-commit" path	Command.PreCommit.seek
 		"run by git pre-commit hook"
+	, SubCommand "trust" remote	Command.Trust.seek
+		"trust a repository"
+	, SubCommand "untrust" remote	Command.Untrust.seek
+		"do not trust a repository"
 	, SubCommand "fromkey" key	Command.FromKey.seek
 		"adds a file using a specific key"
 	, SubCommand "dropkey"	key	Command.DropKey.seek
@@ -84,6 +90,7 @@ subCmds =
 		key = "KEY ..."
 		desc = "DESCRIPTION"
 		number = "NUMBER ..."
+		remote = "REMOTE ..."
 		nothing = ""
 
 -- Each dashed command-line option results in generation of an action
diff --git a/Remotes.hs b/Remotes.hs
index cf49b624b4..725348a6a3 100644
--- a/Remotes.hs
+++ b/Remotes.hs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ module Remotes (
 	inAnnex,
 	same,
 	commandLineRemote,
+	byName,
 	copyFromRemote,
 	copyToRemote,
 	runCmd
@@ -156,6 +157,11 @@ commandLineRemote = do
 	fromName <- Annex.flagGet "fromrepository"
 	toName <- Annex.flagGet "torepository"
 	let name = if null fromName then toName else fromName
+	byName name
+
+{- Looks up a remote by name. -}
+byName :: String -> Annex Git.Repo
+byName name = do
 	when (null name) $ error "no remote specified"
 	g <- Annex.gitRepo
 	let match = filter (\r -> name == Git.repoRemoteName r) $
diff --git a/UUID.hs b/UUID.hs
index 41a35327d9..3e43c80612 100644
--- a/UUID.hs
+++ b/UUID.hs
@@ -14,9 +14,13 @@ module UUID (
 	prepUUID,
 	genUUID,
 	reposByUUID,
+	reposWithoutUUID,
 	prettyPrintUUIDs,
 	describeUUID,
-	uuidLog
+	uuidLog,
+	trustLog,
+	getTrusted,
+	setTrusted
 ) where
 
 import Control.Monad.State
@@ -24,9 +28,7 @@ import Data.Maybe
 import Data.List
 import System.Cmd.Utils
 import System.IO
-import System.Directory
 import qualified Data.Map as M
-import System.Posix.Process
 
 import qualified GitRepo as Git
 import Types
@@ -85,6 +87,14 @@ reposByUUID repos uuids = filterM match repos
 			u <- getUUID r
 			return $ isJust $ elemIndex u uuids
 
+{- Filters a list of repos to ones that do not have the listed UUIDs. -}
+reposWithoutUUID :: [Git.Repo] -> [UUID] -> Annex [Git.Repo]
+reposWithoutUUID repos uuids = filterM unmatch repos
+	where
+		unmatch r = do
+			u <- getUUID r
+			return $ not $ isJust $ elemIndex u uuids
+
 {- Pretty-prints a list of UUIDs -}
 prettyPrintUUIDs :: [UUID] -> Annex String
 prettyPrintUUIDs uuids = do
@@ -103,11 +113,7 @@ describeUUID uuid desc = do
 	m <- uuidMap
 	let m' = M.insert uuid desc m
 	logfile <- uuidLog
-	pid <- liftIO $ getProcessID
-        let tmplogfile = logfile ++ ".tmp" ++ show pid
-	liftIO $ createDirectoryIfMissing True (parentDir logfile)
-	liftIO $ writeFile tmplogfile $ serialize m'
-	liftIO $ renameFile tmplogfile logfile
+	liftIO $ safeWriteFile logfile (serialize m')
 	where
 		serialize m = unlines $ map (\(u, d) -> u++" "++d) $ M.toList m
 
@@ -125,7 +131,28 @@ uuidMap = do
 		ignoreerror _ = return ""
 
 {- Filename of uuid.log. -}
-uuidLog :: Annex String
+uuidLog :: Annex FilePath
 uuidLog = do
 	g <- Annex.gitRepo
 	return $ gitStateDir g ++ "uuid.log"
+
+{- Filename of trust.log. -}
+trustLog :: Annex FilePath
+trustLog = do
+	g <- Annex.gitRepo
+	return $ gitStateDir g ++ "trust.log"
+
+{- List of trusted UUIDs. -}
+getTrusted :: Annex [UUID]
+getTrusted = do
+	logfile <- trustLog
+	s <- liftIO $ catch (readFile logfile) ignoreerror
+	return $ map (\l -> head $ words l) $ lines s
+	where
+		ignoreerror _ = return ""
+
+{- Changes the list of trusted UUIDs. -}
+setTrusted :: [UUID] -> Annex ()
+setTrusted u = do
+	logfile <- trustLog
+	liftIO $ safeWriteFile logfile $ unlines u
diff --git a/Utility.hs b/Utility.hs
index 2447c95a0b..3a6c757515 100644
--- a/Utility.hs
+++ b/Utility.hs
@@ -15,7 +15,8 @@ module Utility (
 	boolSystem,
 	shellEscape,
 	unsetFileMode,
-	readMaybe
+	readMaybe,
+	safeWriteFile
 ) where
 
 import System.IO
@@ -139,3 +140,12 @@ readMaybe :: (Read a) => String -> Maybe a
 readMaybe s = case reads s of
 	((x,_):_) -> Just x
 	_ -> Nothing
+
+{- Writes a file using a temp file that is renamed atomically into place. -}
+safeWriteFile :: FilePath -> String -> IO ()
+safeWriteFile file content = do
+	pid <- getProcessID
+        let tmpfile = file ++ ".tmp" ++ show pid
+	createDirectoryIfMissing True (parentDir file)
+	writeFile tmpfile content
+	renameFile tmpfile file
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index dba343deff..9be8b37fd0 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 git-annex (0.15) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
 
   * Support scp-style urls for remotes (host:path).
+  * Add trust and untrust subcommands, to allow configuring remotes
+    that are trusted to retain files without explicit checking.
 
  -- Joey Hess <joeyh@debian.org>  Tue, 28 Dec 2010 13:13:20 -0400
 
diff --git a/doc/copies.mdwn b/doc/copies.mdwn
index 165e54b340..5b3cbf5154 100644
--- a/doc/copies.mdwn
+++ b/doc/copies.mdwn
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ setting in `.gitattributes` files.
 
 `git annex drop` attempts to check with other git remotes, to check that N
 copies of the file exist. If enough repositories cannot be verified to have
-it, it will retain the file content to avoid data loss.
+it, it will retain the file content to avoid data loss. Note that
+[[trusted_remotes|trust]] are not explicitly checked.
 
 For example, consider three repositories: Server, Laptop, and USB. Both Server
 and USB have a copy of a file, and N=1. If on Laptop, you `git annex get
diff --git a/doc/git-annex.mdwn b/doc/git-annex.mdwn
index 71a4889ac7..caef49d977 100644
--- a/doc/git-annex.mdwn
+++ b/doc/git-annex.mdwn
@@ -171,6 +171,15 @@ Many git-annex subcommands will stage changes for later `git commit` by you.
   This is meant to be called from git's pre-commit hook. `git annex init`
   automatically creates a pre-commit hook using this.
 
+* trust [repository ...]
+
+  Records that a repository is [[trusted]] to not unexpectedly lose content.
+  Use with care.
+
+* untrust [repository ...]
+
+  Undoes a trust command.
+
 * fromkey file
 
   This can be used to maually set up a file to link to a specified key
@@ -333,7 +342,9 @@ These files are used by git-annex, in your git repository:
 available. Annexed files in your git repository symlink to that content.
 
 `.git-annex/uuid.log` is used to map between repository UUID and
-decscriptions. You may edit it.
+decscriptions.
+
+`.git-annex/trust.log` is used to list the UUIDs of trusted repositories.
 
 `.git-annex/*.log` is where git-annex records its content tracking
 information. These files should be committed to git.
diff --git a/doc/location_tracking.mdwn b/doc/location_tracking.mdwn
index a7d5c150b1..3791029f8f 100644
--- a/doc/location_tracking.mdwn
+++ b/doc/location_tracking.mdwn
@@ -26,3 +26,6 @@ descriptions to help you with finding them:
 	  Try making some of these repositories available:
 	  	c0a28e06-d7ef-11df-885c-775af44f8882  -- USB archive drive 1
 	  	e1938fee-d95b-11df-96cc-002170d25c55
+
+In certian cases you may want to configure git-annex to [[trust]]
+that location tracking information is always correct for a repository.
diff --git a/doc/trust.mdwn b/doc/trust.mdwn
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b04a112ecf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/trust.mdwn
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+Normally, git-annex does not fully trust its stored [[location_tracking]]
+information. When removing content, it will directly check
+that other repositories have [[copies]].
+
+Generally that explicit checking is a good idea. Consider that the current
+[[location_tracking]] information for a remote may not yet have propigated
+out. Or, a remote may have suffered a catastrophic loss of data, or itself
+been lost.
+
+Sometimes though, you may have reasons to trust the location tracking
+information for a remote repository. For example, it may be an offline
+archival drive, from which you rarely or never remove content. Deciding
+when it makes sense to trust the tracking info is up to you.
+
+One way to handle this is just to use `--force` when a command cannot
+access a remote you trust.
+
+Another option is to configure which remotes you trust with the 
+`git annex trust` command, or by manually adding the UUIDs of trusted remotes
+to `.git-annex/trust.log`.
diff --git a/doc/walkthrough.mdwn b/doc/walkthrough.mdwn
index 9c8106d513..b486a4b1ff 100644
--- a/doc/walkthrough.mdwn
+++ b/doc/walkthrough.mdwn
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ you'll see something like this.
 	  (Use --force to override this check, or adjust annex.numcopies.)
 	failed
 
-Here you might --force it to drop `important_file` if you trust your backup.
+Here you might --force it to drop `important_file` if you [[trust]] your backup.
 But `other.iso` looks to have never been copied to anywhere else, so if
 it's something you want to hold onto, you'd need to transfer it to
 some other repository before dropping it.