A/70/335 respondent, who should also have the option of indicating multiple or no ethnic affiliations without any negative consequences. Some of the identified shortcomings of self-identification include the discrepancy between self-perception and perception by others, as that may not reflect the fact that racism and discrimination are often based on appearance rather than identity. 14 It has been pointed out that, although several studies have concluded that the outcomes of classification by third parties and self-classification are relatively similar, distrust may lead to underreporting by members of certain communities, who would prefer not to be classified among those groups which are subject to discriminatory attitudes. The Special Rapporteur believes that, despite those shortcomings, self -identification should remain the norm, as it is based on the important notion that the State should not impose an identity on the individual. 58. The Special Rapporteur stresses that confidence-building efforts are needed in order to persuade minorities that there is nothing to fear from self -identifying with a group. That is important for the successful conduct of personal data collection exercises, in terms of both the quantity and accuracy of the inf ormation gathered. 3. Participation 59. Self-identification also implies the participation of target populations in the data collection process. The human rights principle of participation encourages all sections of the population, including vulnerable and marginalized groups and human rights and other relevant institutions, to actively contribute to the decision -making process surrounding the collection of data. 60. The Special Rapporteur believes that indicators should be relevant to the communities surveyed and that the active involvement of targeted groups would enable such relevance. Consulting all stakeholders in all stages of the exercise would help to build confidence between the authorities and the groups concerned and would also lead to better survey design, including the choice of relevant indicators. Moreover, involvement should also be understood as providing the right to members of vulnerable groups to be informed about the results of data collection and about the effectiveness of the anti-discrimination legislation, policies and programmes in place. V. Implementing equality data collection and disaggregation A. Institutional and policy framework 61. The Special Rapporteur would like to stress the importance of establishing adequate mechanisms and an institutional framework for the collection of personal data, in strict compliance with the necessary human rights safeguards. The different stakeholders, including national statistical agencies, relevant government agencies, national human rights institutions and civil society organizations, should come together in measuring discrimination and also in monitoring and assessing the impact of adjustment policies. 62. According to the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses, censuses are the principal means of collecting basic population statistics, as they provide a comprehensive source of statistical information for 15-14106 17/24