The deletion policy regarding Brotherhood member dossier's was clarified by Syn Kaek, during his second term as Master at Arms. This is an outline of the options available to members in terms of how their dossiers will be handled in the event that they wish to leave the Dark Brotherhood. Options include transferring to the Rogues, having your dossier marked as 'inactive' or 'invisible', and permanent deletion.
Transfer to the Rogues
In the event that a member doesn't have time for the Brotherhood or wants to take a break, they can request a transfer to the rogues. Rogue transfers for real life purposes are almost always approved rather quickly and this is the ideal way for a member to proceed in those instances. Even if a member is no longer interested in the Brotherhood at all, it is highly suggestted only a transfer to the rogues and nothing more. In the event that a member realizes they want to come back, it's a simple matter of transferring back to their previous Clan quickly. Members who have been gone for a substantial amount of time are, of course, welcome to transfer to any Clan they like when they return.
The practice of 'Clan hopping' (going rogue and then transferring from rogue to another Clan in order to avoid the hassles of an inter-Clan transfer) is not allowed under any circumstances. The Dark Council advises those who wish to leave the Brotherhood to always consider the Rogues as their first option.
Inactive Dossier
If a member wants a little bit more finality to the termination of their Brotherhood career or wants to make it very clear to people recruiting from the Rogues that they are not interested in being an active member of the Brotherhood, they can request to have their dossier marked as inactive. In that event, the Master at Arms will move the member to the rogues and then mark the dossier as inactive using his/her administrative access. Information previously on the dossier will not appear (it will display as "This dossier is inactive") though the dossier itself will still show up when searching.
Invisible Dossier
In the event that a member wants their dossier not to appear at all in the database but still wants to keep it there in case they decide to return, the Master at Arms can make their dossier completely invisible except to to those with high enough database access. If a member chooses to take this option, he/she will move them to the rogues, set their dossier to inactive and make it invisible. In cases where someone wants to be 'deleted,' it is recommended that you consider making your dossier invisible first.
Dossier Deletion
If a member is 100% sure that they do not want to be in the Brotherhood and do not want to ever return, they have the option of requesting permanent deletion. In this instance, your name, email address, rank, medals, personal data, history, etc will be permamently deleted. Your dossier will be moved to the rogues, marked inactive and invisible and then marked as deleted. Once your dossier is deleted, it is gone. The Master at Arms will NOT restore it. It cannot be recovered. It is unequivocally destroyed. If you make the choice to have your dossier deleted, it's gone and it's not coming back. If you change your mind and want to return, you'll have to start from scratch. Needless to say, this is not an option that should be considered lightly and used only as a last resort.
Other Information
Master at Arms Report used to create this document: