A Canadian privacy regulator has started a probe on an issue where the Street View feature of Google Earth collected some private data while taking some photographs.

Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart has raised concern over the privacy implications creeping up from the data collection through wireless networks.

She further said that only a thorough investigation can find out the actual way in which this blunder took place. She agreed that Canada is lagging behind the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and European Commission in undertaking a formal investigation.

The FTC and other Governments have directed Google to hang onto the data for the time being.

Google has assured to offer full cooperation to authorities. It said that it will answer their questions and address their concerns.

Lawsuits have been filed in Washington, California, Massachusetts and Oregon against the service by those who accuse Google of hindering their privacy.

A district court judge in Portland, Oregon, has directed Google to present two copies of a hard drive which carries the data it collected in the US and produce them in the court.