Strauss Borrelli PLLC, a leading data breach law firm, is investigating St. Mary’s Seminary and University (“St. Mary’s”) regarding its recent data breach. The St. Mary’s data breach involved sensitive personal identifiable information belonging to an undetermined number of individuals.
ABOUT ST. MARY'S SEMIARY AND UNIVERSITY:
St. Mary’s is a Catholic seminary based out of Maryland. Founded by Bishop John Carroll in 1791, St. Mary’s is the first Catholic seminary established in the United States.2 After finding himself shepherding 30,000 Catholics with only 35 priests, Bishop Carroll requested help from the Society of Saint Sulpice in France.2 The Sulpicians responded by sending Fr. François Charles Nagot along with some companions and seminarians to begin the first Roman Catholic seminary in the United States.2 For over two hundred years, St. Mary’s has been owned and operated by the Sulpician Fathers, a community of diocesan priests dedicated to the formation of priests.2 Today, St. Mary’s continues this tradition and offers theological and pastoral education to aspiring priests, in addition to providing forum for ecumenical and interfaith dialogue through its Ecumenical Institute.3 Positioned on a 40-acre campus, St. Mary’s is located in Baltimore, Maryland.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Recently, St. Mary’s reported to the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that it had experienced a data breach in which the sensitive personal identifiable information in its systems may have been accessed. According to the breach notice, St. Mary’s detected suspicious activity on its network environment on December 31, 2023. After immediately disconnecting all access to its network, St. Mary’s launched an investigation to determine the nature of the incident. On or about February 14, 2024, the investigation was concluded.
During its investigation, St. Mary’s determined that certain files containing sensitive data may have been accessed. St. Mary’s reviewed the compromised files to determine what information had been impacted as well as identify the specific individuals affected. On June 17, 2024, St. Mary’s finalized this review. While the information impacted varies depending on the individual, the type of information potentially exposed includes:
- Name
- Social Security number
- Address
On February 15, 2024, St. Mary’s posted a notice of the data breach on its website. In July 2024, St. Mary’s began mailing data breach notification letters to impacted individuals. These notification letters should provide impacted individuals with a list of the specific type of sensitive information impacted. A link to the form breach notification letter that St. Mary’s filed with the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is below.
If you received a breach notification letter from St. Mary's Seminary and University:
We would like to speak with you about your rights and potential legal remedies in response to this data breach. Please fill out the form, below, or contact us at 872.263.1100 or sam@straussborrelli.com.
