Saskatchewan's decision to put the brakes on high-tech driver's licences shows their benefits don't outweigh the invasion of people's privacy, according to one of Canada's top privacy watchdogs.

Chantal Bernier, assistant privacy commissioner of Canada, is applauding the province's decision to back away from the enhanced licences until legislation addresses concerns about how personal information is used and how vulnerable it is to hackers.

"It's highly significant," Bernier said in an interview with The Canadian Press. "The province seems to come to the conclusion ... that the cost-benefit analysis is not convincing."

Intruding on a person's privacy is only justified when the benefits outweigh the risks, she said. And more people seem to be coming to the conclusion that concerns associated with enhanced driver's licences don't justify going ahead with the cards in their current form.

The high-tech licences - which are being brought in by Ontario, British Columbia and Manitoba - are intended to be used as identification instead of passports at U.S. land border crossings. Starting in June, all travellers crossing into the United States by land or sea, including American citizens, will need a passport or an acceptable alternative.

In response to concerns from Saskatchewan privacy commissioner Gary Dickson, that province temporarily pulled proposed legislation this week that outlined how the licences would work.

Most of the privacy questions revolve around the card's embedded radio-frequency identification chip.