Honourable Member, I can't answer you on the philosophy. I'm only really mandated to answer you concerning the application of the Privacy Act. The Privacy Act allows the government to collect personal information if it is in relation to a law or a program that is extant. To the extent that the government of the day has a law or a program, it can then collect personal information in support of this.
On November 22nd, 2011. See this statement in context.