Third-country nationals or stateless persons who have requested international protection in one Member State might try to request international protection in another Member State for many years to come. The maximum period during which the biometric data of third-country nationals or stateless persons who have requested international protection can be kept in Eurodac should be strictly limited to the extent necessary and should be proportionate, in line with the principle of proportionality enshrined in Article 52(1) of the CharterThe Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and as interpreted by the Court of Justice. Given that most third-country nationals or stateless persons who have stayed in the Union for several years will have obtained a settled status or even citizenship of a Member State after that period, a period of 10 years should be considered a reasonable period for the storage of biometric and alphanumeric data.