Google Street View crews photograghed more than 100 Saskatchewan cities and towns, including Coronach. (Google)

Saskatchewan's privacy commissioner says he's surprised to learn Google may have downloaded internet data from homes in the province — and he doesn't want to see it happen again.

Gary Dickson was commenting on the search engine giant's recent admission that while taking photos for its popular Street View maps around the globe, it also saved information from unprotected Wifi — or wireless — internet networks.

"I was surprised it was identified as an issue by Google and it wasn't identified earlier," the information and privacy commissioner said.

Dickson said there's no way to know how much data was taken in Saskatchewan over the past few years, but if it happened elsewhere, presumably it happened in the province, too.

Gary Dickson, Saskatchewan's information and privacy commissioner, says he was surprised to find that Google may have downloaded data from open wifi networks in the province. (CBC)

It's a reminder that people have to take charge of their own digital security, Dickson said.

"Each of us has to be our own privacy cop, to a certain extent."

Specifically, people who use Wi-Fi routers to get an internet signal around their homes should use passwords and consider encrypting their data for further protection, he said.

Street View is a free map service that gives people ground-level views of streets and individual properties around the world.

In Saskatchewan, Google took photographs of more than 100 cities and towns, and has now put the information online.

Thanks to Street View, people across Canada can visit places like Coronach, Creelman or Cadillac, without burning up gasoline. It was an immediate hit with many Google users.

However, Google told officials in Germany that while taking pictures around the world, the company was also collecting data from Wi-Fi networks.

Google said it had "mistakenly collected samples of payload data" from open Wi-Fi networks that weren't protected by passwords.

Google has since stopped collecting such data, and says it will delete the information that has already been collected.

'Payload data? That's really bad'

The company said because its cars were on the move and it was constantly changing channels, it expects only fragments of data were downloaded.

But such assurances don't impress Xue Dong Yang, head of the computer science department at the University of Regina.

"Payload data? That's really bad," said Yang.

With unprotected Wi-Fi, it can be open season on virtually any kind of material stored on a computer, including emails, Word documents or web pages, he said.

Even though the Google cars were travelling, some home Wi-Fi networks have a range 50 to 100 metres, Yang said.

That means it's possible to download much data in a few seconds, he said.

"If you have a shared directory with another computer, then this becomes … wide open to anyone," he said.

In rural Saskatchewan, famed as a place where neighbours trust each other and unlocked doors are common, the Google Wi-Fi controversy may serve as a wakeup call.

When the Google cars were taking pictures last year, it didn't stir up much attention, but the potential downloading of data is more of a concern, said Ken Engel, executive director of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities.

"That would disturb me more than anything," he said, adding, "Is that even legal?"

'We are of course shocked and deeply concerned.'—Anne-Marie Hayden, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

That same question is now being examined by federal privacy officials.

"We are of course shocked and deeply concerned," said Anne-Marie Hayden, spokeswoman for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

The commissioner's office plans to get in touch with data protection agencies around the world, Hayden said.

"We're examining our next steps," Hayden said.

Dickson said while the Google Wi-Fi situation falls under federal jurisdiction, he'd like Google to delete any payload data it downloaded and have third-party confirmation it was done properly.

Also, if the Google cars return to Saskatchewan, they better not download such data again, he said.