These and other official reports are important sources of information. Human rights NGOs are normally skeptical of government-generated data and information. However, workshop participants explained that even a biased or skewed government report can be informative and useful if analyzed with a critical eye. Sometimes, taking note of what is left out of a report can be useful for discerning areas the government has avoided or neglected. Activists can also use official data to hold governments accountable for what they claim to do, employing data collected through other sources to evaluate actual performance.
Some activists also face difficulties collecting data from governmental sources.
Freedom of information is a fundamental issue related to effective human rights monitoring and advocacy. Activists face a range of other difficulties in this area depending on the contexts within which they operate. Furthermore, activists commonly relay that even when they find pertinent statistics or information, that information has not been recorded in a way that corresponds to the rights they seek to monitor. This problem underscores the need for activists to develop human rights indicators and relate information to these indicators. In addition, human rights activists have found that in countries where corruption is a serious problem, or where the ESC rights issues being explored are connected to highly controversial or volatile situations, it can be dangerous to seek government information.