Notice to keepers · TR-11215
The suspension of the Penfield Mk IV
Published 3 July 2026 and revised as the audit proceeds. Last revised on 30 October 2026.
Answers for keepers
Is my instrument safe to use?
Yes, within the registers the suspension permits, which are forty-four of the forty-eight. The Registry has not found any fault in the instrument’s operation. Its concern is with how the Almanac allowed some keepers to arrange their settings.
What did keepers do?
In June 2026 the house received letters from the families of several keepers, and from two physicians, describing keepers who had used the Almanac to set registers of the Gravity family for long periods while they slept, worked or were away, so that they would be in those registers whenever they were at home. The house forwarded the letters to the Registry within the seventy-two hours its standard condition 6.1 requires.
The register most often set in this way was V.8, Self-accusatory depression. The longest single setting the Registry has so far recorded ran for sixty-one hours. Every one of these settings was confirmed by its keeper with the confirmation key, as the license requires.
Why does the instrument have such a register at all?
Because some keepers need help to reach a feeling they know they owe: grief they have not yet allowed themselves, or remorse for something they have done. The register is used, rarely and briefly, by keepers who are grieving, or who have done something they cannot yet face. We did not foresee that it would be arranged in advance, for days at a time. That is a failure of foresight, and the audit will tell us how to repair it.
Does the house know how I use my instrument?
No. The license forbids the Association to sell or share usage data, and the house has never collected it. Your settings history is held on your instrument. The Registry’s auditors may ask to read it, but only with your written permission and in your presence. As of 30 October, 3,106 keepers have agreed.
Can I still use the Almanac?
Not during the suspension. Settings already scheduled were cleared by firmware 4.2.1, and the Almanac window shows a hatched shutter. Registers may still be set by hand.
How do I return my instrument?
Write to penfield@rosenassociation.org with the certificate number engraved on the base. We will send a padded case and a label, and refund the purchase price in full when the instrument reaches the Penfield Works. As of 30 October, 2,288 instruments have been returned, and 59,124 have not.
When will the audit finish?
The Registry has not given a date. The house expects to be told the result early in 2027 and will publish it here on the day it is received.
Who answers for the instrument?
Eldon Rosen, President, answers to the Registry for the filing and answers letters about it personally. Rachael Rosen, a director of the Association, serves on the board of Frothly, which operates the Turing Registry, and has recused herself from the board’s discussion of the filing.