Condo Media - April 2012 - 37

more. I don’t think we’ve reached the ‘happy medium’ the purveyors of technology were selling.” The short life cycle is another disadvantage of new technology, McBride notes. The leading-edge systems installed this year will soon be surpassed by newer, better, more innovative alternatives. “The initial investment you make in technology puts you far ahead of the curve,” he says. “But you have to keep making substantial investments just to keep up with the Joneses.” There was a time, McBride says, when management companies could use technology innovations to impress clients. Increasingly, those innovations are becoming an industry standard that clients expect. The dependence on technology also makes management companies and community associations more vulnerable to disruptions — from power outages, natural disasters or cyber-terrorists. Redundant systems and backup strategies can manage those risks, McBride says. His concern is that many community associations either don’t consider the risk at all, or assume that their management company has the necessary backup systems in place, without ever asking the question. “They think everything is fine, until disaster strikes, and they discover that the data they thought was stored and protected has disappeared.” Stephen Marcus, partner; Moira Casey, associate and director of human resources Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C. The most serious legal risks for community associations and management companies reside in the communications technologies they adopt and the data storage and retrieval systems they install. On the communications side, anything board members write in e-mails will be subject to, and can and will be used against the association, in a legal proceeding.

Information posted on an association website also poses potential risks, if it is insulting or inaccurate. For that reason, Marcus suggests that boards strictly control who posts information, what information is posted and avoid posting any information (including the names of delinquent unit owners) that individuals might deem derogatory or embarrassing. He also recommends adding a disclaimer stating that the board doesn’t guarantee the accuracy of the information. Associations that post information on websites or social media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and the like) are, in effect, publishers — exposing them to claims of libel, copyright infringement, plagiarism and similar liability risks. To mitigate those risks, Marcus suggests that boards adopt policies that: • Strictly limit who is allowed to post information on the sites.

• Prohibit publication of negative or disparaging comments about individuals or entities. • Establish procedures for screening content before it is posted, and for removing content deemed to be inappropriate or to otherwise violate the board’s usage standards. Management companies face potential liability not only for what is posted on their sites, but for what employees might write on their private blogs, websites and social media accounts. With that concern in mind, he suggests that companies adopt policies prohibiting employees from using company content or discussing company business on their personal sites. In the data retrieval area, the most obvious risk is a security breach that puts personal information in the hands of cyber-thieves.

CONDO MEDIA • APRIL 2012

Condo Media - April 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - April 2012