Respect, by design
Your interest is shared.
Your details are not.
Who organizes the society
The Horological Society of Pittsburgh is personally operated by Kevin Caridad. For membership, events, general questions, or privacy requests, contact hello@horologypittsburgh.com.
Member sign-in
Members verify their email once when creating a password. Normal sign-in uses email and password. Passwords do not expire on a schedule. When you request a password reset, the website sends an email code using Resend. Codes expire after 10 minutes and allow up to five guesses. We store a protected check of the code, not the readable code. If you choose “Keep me signed in,” a secure cookie remembers this browser for up to 30 days. Uncheck that option on a shared computer for a 12-hour sign-in. Signing out ends that session; suspended members lose access immediately. Only founder-approved addresses can enter the private member area.
Passwords are stored as salted, slow cryptographic checks, never as readable passwords. Password changes end previous sign-ins. We keep your name, email and approval history in the society database and its backups. Temporary sign-in records and protected rate-limit identifiers are removed during later sign-in requests after they expire. They are not included in our backups. Resend processes the recipient address and email delivery records. You can ask about your information at hello@horologypittsburgh.com.
Application verification and review
Application verification sends a six-digit code through Resend to the email address you enter. It expires after 10 minutes, permits up to five guesses and works only in the browser where it was requested. Request limits help prevent abuse. Your introduction is saved for review only after verification. Duplicate submissions do not replace the existing application. Email verification does not grant membership.
The founder records the decision and may keep a private review note. Approval grants member access and automatically sends a welcome email with password setup instructions; you then create your password separately. Decision messages exclude private review notes. Application, decision and email-status records are included in database backups. Temporary verification records are excluded and are removed after expiry during later verification requests.
What the application needs
Name, verified email, ZIP code, age eligibility, a short introduction, watch interests, membership goals, industry affiliation and acceptance of the rules. Occupation and other background are optional. We do not ask for your income, street address or collection value.
Why we ask
To review applications, understand interests, plan accessible gatherings and arrange introductions you agree to. ZIP codes inform venue planning, not judgments about wealth or admission.
Who can see it
Applications and review notes are for authorized reviewers. Sponsors do not receive membership lists. Contact details are shared for a personal introduction only after the people involved agree. Members separately choose what to show in the private member directory.
Member profiles and conversations
Your member profile can hold an optional contact email, phone number and face photograph. These start private. Email, phone and photo each have an independent choice to share with other approved members who are signed in. Your sign-in email is not automatically copied into your profile, and changing your contact email does not change your sign-in. Your membership name appears with your profile and discussion posts. You can withdraw each sharing choice, edit or clear contact details, and replace or remove your photo in My profile.
Profile photographs are resized and re-encoded in your browser to remove embedded metadata before upload. Access to the current photo is checked when requested; removed or replaced photos stop being accessible through the website. Someone who already saw information you shared may have kept a copy. Before viewing other members' shared contact details or photos, approved members must explicitly accept the current version of the member directory agreement. It permits only direct personal communication with that member within the Society and prohibits sharing or forwarding their information to anyone else, downloading or exporting it, or harvesting or collecting it in bulk. The member contact area uses name searches and limited pages; it offers no download or export feature. Displayed details can still be copied or screenshotted, so the agreement depends on members respecting these rules. We record the accepted policy version and time. Withdrawing the viewing agreement stops your access to others' shared details; your own sharing settings remain unchanged until you edit them in My profile. Your own profile stays available without accepting the viewing agreement.
The discussion board is available only to approved members who are signed in. Questions and replies appear under the author’s membership name. Members can remove their own posts and report concerns privately to the founder. The founder can review reports, hide or restore posts, and close or reopen replies. Profiles, posts, reports and moderation history are held in society storage and may be included in existing database backups. Removed posts may remain in those records. Posting or reporting does not send notification emails. Avoid serial numbers, home addresses, financial details and other information you would not want members to see. Contact hello@horologypittsburgh.com for a privacy or removal request.
Private selling requests
A selling introduction request includes your contact details, a description of the watch, its reported condition, box and papers, preferred route and any optional price preference or service history. These are private review details, not a public listing. The specific recipient and the details you agree to share are confirmed before an introduction. Do not submit serial numbers, bank details, identity documents or a home address in the request.
Attendance, feedback and email
Members with a confirmed reservation can check in with the host or enter the arrival code displayed at the venue. We record the member, gathering, check-in time and whether the host or member recorded it. The founder can see attendance lists and receive attendance reports. Feedback is private to the member and founder, includes the member’s name, and is not automatically published. Optional gathering announcements and journal emails are off until selected in your member area. Reservation updates and attendance follow-up are separate. Email delivery uses Resend. Event stories are reviewed before publication; private venue addresses are excluded from generated drafts.
Photographs
Permission to take your photograph and permission to publish it are separate. Neither is required to join. Event hosts must know and respect your choices.
Automation and approval
The planned system may summarize information you submit and suggest events or introductions. A human decides admissions, exceptions and introductions. No AI service is connected to the society’s application or request forms.
Before public launch
The final notice must identify the society’s operator, contact address, service providers, retention periods, data-request process, email preferences and the handling of payment and email records. Those details must reflect the services actually connected.
Public preview and private testing
Visitors can browse the society’s public pages. Application availability is controlled by the founder and displayed on the Membership page. Event registration requires approved member access; live guest and personal-introduction workflows are still being developed. The administrator’s rehearsal forms and test records remain private. Test records are saved in the site database until removed through maintenance. Earlier rehearsal forms do not send messages. The live application form sends a verification email when requested. The founder reviews each application, and approval automatically sends its welcome email. Decline responses remain subject to the founder’s separate review and send action. The live member event desk has a separate email outbox; the founder can send its queued messages through Resend. No payment or social publishing service is connected.