According to an official, a Maryland state employee was put on administrative leave and may face further discipline for posting Social Security numbers on a Web site.

The Baltimore Sun reported on Monday that a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Resources in Baltimore, Nancy Lineman, said there is no evidence the posting of Social Security numbers and other personal information of nearly 3,000 clients was used for identity theft, but affected clients will receive an offer of a year of credit monitoring.

The Sun said that those affected, including those who receive food stamps, will get a letter with details about the data breach. The Sun also reported that Liberty Coalition, a non-profit that promotes individual freedoms, including privacy, discovered the breach.

Liberty Coalition's privacy director, Aaron Titus, said that the information was posted from April 27 to July 14. The information was removed on Wednesday.

He approved of the government's offering credit monitoring, but he suggested that all affected clients contact credit reporting agencies to put a security freeze on their credit to prevent data misuse, Titus further added. (With Inputs from Agencies)