Social security numbers for more nearly 24,000 students at the University of Maryland were inadvertently printed on the mailing labels for a parking brochure, the Department of Transportation Services said in an email to students today.

"The University apologizes, and deeply regrets this unfortunate mistake. We are taking aggressive steps to ensure that this does not happen again. We strongly recommend that you take appropriate precautions to mask, black out, or destroy this document after use," said the email, signed by DOTS director David Allen.

The mistake was discovered on July 8 after the mailings were sent July 1. The department said in the email they were not aware of anyone's social security number being misused.

The university will offer free Equifax reports to affected students, at a cost to the university of about $23 a person, said vice president for student affairs Linda Clement. With Equifax, the students can monitor their credit or place a fraud alert on their account.

This story continues below
Advertisement

Clement explained that when a DOTS employee collected names and addresses for the brochure, social security numbers and email addresses would have appeared in the search, but were supposed to be removed from the labels. DOTS saw the email addresses on the labels but didn't identify the social security numbers because they were not separated by the typical two dashes, she said.

The incident is under investigation and the person involved has not been fired, Clement added. The delay in notifying students was due to the legal office negotiating a deal with Equifax.

"We sincerely regret it. This is just an awful situation, we're trying to do everything we can to mitigate it," Clement said.

A letter explaining the situation and offering remedies will be sent to students Friday or Saturday, said Ann Wylie, the university president's chief of staff.

"We were horribly upset that this happened," she said. "It was a human error."

Carrie.wells@baltimoreexaminer.com