In this part of the dossier, an overview of the collection of equality and particiaton data in the USA will be given.

Knowledge of the population’s demography is essential for the discussion and implementation of social changes. Without information on catagorizations such as ethnic origin, gender, sexuality, age, as well as many others, the protection of the rights of marginialized groups within these categories is considerably more difficult.

To ensure that the collection of sensitive data is carried out legitimately and appropriately the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 1977 fixed standards for the classification of federal data on ethnic origin, and ethnicity. These regulations include rules for survey, such as the listing of a number of categories with respect to ethnic origin. They also include strict rules in case foreign identification of ethnic origin or ethnicity of a person is necessary, and the ability to select more than one option when a person may identify as more than one ethnicity.

Before the OMB implemented these standards the category of ethnic origin was broadened, this promted people to choose incorrectly. Since 1977, people who participate indentify themselves with an ethnic origin in the survey. Before that, those who carried out the survey noted the ethnic origin of the participant. That undermined the right to self-identification, and therefore led to the discrimination of many minorities. An important aspect of the standards of OMB classification is that race and ethnicity are viewed as evolving and changing concepts.

In the US issues of improvements and regulations are publicly discussed. These guidleines shall be adhered to in the implementation of data collection for the US government, education, and the labour market. Provisions requiring police to adhere to these rules do not exist.