I’m thinking about registering again. How many years do you keep my previous information on file?

At places that facilitate introductions between men and women, the usual pattern is: - The men are mostly regulars. - The women are mostly new, first-time participants. Because of this structure, information distinguishing new women from everyone else will probably need to be kept for at least another 20 or 30 years. Women have a good chance of finding someone quickly as newcomers, while many men may never find a match and end up becoming regulars. For women, standing out as a newcomer is also an advantage, so it would be wise to make the most of that window and move on once the time is right. If everyone could simply re-register as a “new member,” it would undermine the valuable advantage of being a first-time member, leaving new women—and the men and clubs as well—worse off. Also, the number of new women is what determines whether men continue gathering there. If that distinction became unclear, they would no longer be able to make an informed judgment.

I can’t give you a specific number of years, but in principle, we process data in accordance with privacy laws, so photos and similar data become inaccessible even to staff when you leave the club. However, certain information is retained to keep a record of past circumstances and to prevent men from accidentally making an offer to the same woman twice. So, if you were previously forced to leave the club, it will come to light somewhere along the way. Of course, I assume you mean that you weren’t forced to leave and simply want to register as a new member rather than re-register. But if you happen to receive a second offer from the same man, it may technically be the man’s responsibility, yet the club could receive a complaint and the company would have to apologize. That’s why it’s quite difficult to register returning women as new members. Still, I feel it might not be completely impossible. The club could simply announce to the men: “Sometimes a returning woman may be listed as a new member, so please be careful not to make an offer by mistake.” Besides, if someone has already left, but their original registration date still appears, what exactly is the point of leaving? Isn’t that basically the same as taking a leave of absence? That’s what I sometimes wonder. Come to think of it, I once came across an older case where a woman applied as a new member and made it partway through the new-registration process. But at the very end, something matched her previous information, revealing that she had registered before. From inside the company, I found myself thinking, “If only that information had been changed, she could have registered as new. What a shame…” But it could be misused, so I won’t reveal the details here. Still, it’s something you can figure out fairly quickly if you think about it, so I’d recommend applying carefully.