A/70/335 rights. Access to such information would increase visibility for those population groups vis‐à‐vis the other components of society, thereby sensitizing them to the existence of marginalized groups and their contribution to th e life of the State. 36. The Special Rapporteur would like once more to insist that in the discharge of his mandate he has more often than not noted the absence of data disaggregated along the prohibited grounds of discrimination, especially ethnicity. In some cases that situation is due to the non-implementation of existing national provisions, linked to limited capacity and resources. In that respect, he acknowledges that disaggregating data can present several challenges, such as issues of feasibility an d practicality, as it can turn out to be costly and require significant amount of resources and capacity, as underscored in the guide to the measurement of human rights indicators published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissi oner for Human Rights (OHCHR). 7 37. In some countries, however, the collection of “sensitive” data is forbidden by law and many States have demonstrated a strong resistance to collecting such information, sometimes on the grounds of legitimate human rights concerns. In a report on “Ethnic statistics and data protection in the Council of Europe countries” in 2007, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance acknowledged the reluctance which surrounded the collection of sensitive data, resulting partly from a wrong interpretation of data protection laws, which are posed as insurmountable obstacles when in reality provisions have also been established to allow the collection of such sensitive data. 38. Although disaggregating data could be in contradiction to the ri ght to privacy, or in the case of ethnic data lead to the revival of tensions within specific political contexts, or be misused, thus creating further discrimination and human rights abuses, the Special Rapporteur is of the view that those issues and obsta cles can be overcome if certain strict human rights rules are observed by States and the mechanisms in charge of collecting such data. B. Challenges 39. The Special Rapporteur notes that there are various forms of anxieties expressed by States with regard to the collection of ethnic data, often on the grounds that this would be incompatible with the right to privacy. That is the case for several European States, which have grounded their arguments in the provisions of the Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data of 1981 and European Union directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data. Both instruments prohibit the collection of ethnic data; however they both also contain exception clauses allowing for the collection of such data, provided that the national legal framework contains strong safeguards, including seeking the informed consent of the target population and guaranteeing privacy and data security, as well as strong justifications for the need to collect such data. The collection of personal data as vital to fighting discrimination and fostering equality meets the criteria of being a “substantial public interest”, which is also a precondition under the European data protection regime. 8 __________________ 8 12/24 See article 8 (4) of directive 95/46/EC. 15-14106