Category: News

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Your business’s Facebook Fan Pages May Violate the GDRP

Emblem of the Court of Justice of the European Union

What is the European Court of Justice?

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the highest level court in the European Union, equivalent to the United States Supreme Court.  The ECJ is tasked with translating EU law and applying it across all EU member states.

What is the GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a law that applies to the European Union and was implemented to provide data protection and privacy. It also applies to personal data that is sent outside the EU and EEA areas.

How Does the GDPR  Rule Affect EU Residents?

Member state of the European Union-2020_EU_MAPYou may have noticed that many web pages now display a warning that cookies will be created on the website that you are visiting and you need to acknowledge that you accept this option. It does not have to be visitors just from the EU, but anyone who visits your web page.

This rule, in particular, applies to Facebook business pages, called fan pages, and advises that any information the Facebook user enters can be saved in the cookies for later use by the FB administrator. If further declares that the administrator can be held personally accountable for the “freeflow” of their information to and from and on your page.

What are Cookies?

Cookies are used all over the world wide web, including Facebook and almost every other social network mainly for advertising and promotion purposes “to … enable the fan page administrator to obtain statistics produced … from the visits to the page,  —  so that it can offer them more relevant content and develop functionalities likely to be of more interest to them.”

What is a Corporate Fan Page?

The official definition of a corporate fan page is the following: “user accounts that can be set up on Facebook by individuals or businesses…[T]he author of the fan page … can use the … Facebook [platform] to introduce himself to … persons visiting the fan page.”

Conclusion

With the data protection law in effect, it is prudent that web designers, content managers, administrators, and their respective clients be vigilant about the consequences when personal information is entered on a website that they are administrating.

 

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NEW YORK HERO ACT – MODEL PLANS RELEASED

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Photo by Enrico Mantegazza on

This month, the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) added to its Hero Act the Model Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Plan (Model Plan). This plan provides the required steps that all NYS employers must follow by August 17, 2021.

Model Plan Purpose

The purpose of this act is to help decrease and protect employees from acquiring the covid-19 virus, as well as any other airborne infectious diseases that might materialize in the future.

Who is Affected?

This act applies to all employers who have locations in New York State where employees are present. It requires employers to follow this plan within thirty days of the publication release. The due date for adhering to the act is August 17, 2021, since the act was published on July 6, 2021.

Who is Covered?

The responsibilities lie with the employer who is responsible for maintaining control during an outbreak, appropriate infection response, and necessary.

How Should Employers Manage the Model Plan?

Employers have the option to follow the Model Plan or create their own plan so long as they follow the guidelines of the Airborne Infectious Disease Exposure Prevention Standard.

How Can I Obtain More Information?

Complete information about The Model Plan can be found on the provided PDF at the New York State Department of Health (DOL) website. 

In addition to the State requirements, the United States Department of Labor requires all healthcare employers to follow COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard issued by OSHA published on June 10, 2021.

As with the NYS Hero Act, the ETS requires all healthcare workers to create a designated infectious disease plan. If the company or organization has over 10 employees, the plan must be delivered in writing.  Employers can follow the template provided by OSHA regarding covid-19 protection for employees.

Please contact Sharon Stiller, Esq., Maureen Bass, Esq., or Rachel Gold, Esq. with any questions or comments.

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NYC Hotel Tax Reassement New Rulling

In a November 2019 trial, Judge Joseph Risi refused New York City’s appraised values for the Marriott Hotel at LaGuardia Airport. The judge instead used market and assessed values from the hotel taxpayer’s report, since the NYC valuations were done prior to the covid pandemic and show overvalues for hotel properties in the city. This ruling resulted in an 85% tax reduction levied against the hotel.

As per Joel Marcus of Marcus & Pollack LLP,   who represented Queens Marriott Courtyard: “Every hotel owner should be cheered by this important decision, which stands for the proposition that you can get a redress and justice through the court system on a property tax challenge,” Jeffrey Lebowitz of Abrams Fensterman was co-counsel.

Noting that this is a new precedent for hotel tax rulings in New York, the firm Marcus & Pollack are looking to additional hotel cases in the future.