Judge dismisses driver’s lawsuit over Uber data breach

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit brought by an Uber driver whose data was exposed in a recent breach at the driving service, Reuters reports.

{mosads}In February, Uber disclosed that someone had used a security key to improperly download 50,000 drivers’ names and license numbers in 2014.

One driver, Sasha Antman, filed a class action suit claiming that Uber had poor network security.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco ruled that Antman had not demonstrated that Uber’s conduct regarding the breach had caused injury, required for legal standing in data breach cases.

Because of the complexity of the attribution process, victims often struggle to establish harm, stymying efforts at redress.

Beeler gave Antman’s attorneys 28 days to refile and show standing.

Uber is embroiled in its own legal fight surrounding the breach.

Court papers claim an unidentified person using a Comcast IP address is behind the theft of the driver database. A U.S. magistrate judge has approved a subpoena of Comcast records sought by Uber, saying that such a request was “reasonably likely” to identify the “bad actor” behind the breach.

Comcast has appealed the subpoena, which would command it to turn over the unnamed subscriber’s identity, payment information and data connecting the subscriber to the development page where the security key was posted.

Uber is investigating whether there is a connection between the hacker and Lyft, Uber’s chief rival. Sources told Reuters that the Comcast address belongs to Lyft’s chief technology officer, Chris Lambert.

Lyft denies that there is any connection between the company and the Uber hack, claiming that Uber’s poor online practices led to the breach.

“Uber allowed login credentials for their driver database to be publicly accessible for months before and after the breach,” a spokesman said earlier this month.