Colony Counter

Legal

Terms of Service

1. Scope

These Terms apply to the Colony Counter website at colony-counter.net (the “website”), including the free online colony counter, educational content under /learn/*, optional account sign-in, synced projects when signed in, and upgrade links to Lab Laps.

This website is operated as part of the Lab Laps product family. By accessing or using the website, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not use the website.

2. Relationship to Lab Laps

Accounts, authentication, and subscriptions for this website are provided through the shared Lab Laps platform at lablaps.com. When you create an account or sign in here, you use the same Lab Laps account that works across Lab Laps websites and apps.

Paid plans, billing, and subscription management are handled on lablaps.com. Your use of Lab Laps account and subscription features is also subject to the terms and policies published on lablaps.com, including the Lab Laps Terms of Service and Lab Laps Privacy Policy, where they apply to shared account and subscription processing.

3. Eligibility and Acceptable Use

You may use the website only for lawful purposes and in compliance with applicable law. You agree not to misuse the website, interfere with operations, attempt unauthorized access, bypass security controls, or deploy automated abuse.

  • No unlawful, fraudulent, or abusive use
  • No attempts to probe, scan, or exploit vulnerabilities
  • No activity that can degrade service availability for other users

4. Analytics

The website uses aggregate analytics (Vercel Analytics) to understand traffic and improve the service. Details are described in our Privacy Policy.

5. Free Web Tools and AI Output

The website offers a free AI-assisted colony counter. This tool, and any counts, detections, calculations, or other output it produces, are provided for convenience only and may be inaccurate, incomplete, or unsuitable for your use case. Output is AI-assisted and must be manually reviewed and independently verified before you rely on it.

The tool does not provide medical, clinical, diagnostic, regulatory, legal, or safety advice and must not be used as the sole basis for decisions in regulated or safety-critical contexts (for example, CFU reporting). You are solely responsible for validating all results. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss or damage arising from reliance on tool or AI output.

Counts, detection boxes, overlays, exports, and other on-screen presentation may be wrong, incomplete, misaligned, or fail to render correctly on your device or browser. Display, layout, zoom, or export glitches do not change your obligation to review results manually. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss or damage arising from incorrect display, rendering errors, or reliance on what you see in the tool interface.

When you upload, select, or capture an image in the colony counter, you confirm that you have the rights and permissions needed to do so, and you authorize us to process that image to generate a count as described in our Privacy Policy. Do not upload confidential, proprietary, regulated, or personal data you are not permitted to share. Free tool usage may be subject to fair-use or volume limits, which we may change at any time.

6. Accounts, Sign-In, and Synced Projects

Some features require or support a Lab Laps account (including sign-in with email and password). You are responsible for the accuracy of your account information, for keeping your credentials secure, and for activity under your account. We use bot-protection (captcha) and may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms or applicable law, or that create security or legal risk. Processing of account data is described in our Privacy Policy.

6.1 Synced projects and cloud storage

When signed in, the website may store colony counter projects, images, detections, and preferences in your browser and sync them with our backend so they can be available across sessions and devices and with the Lab Laps mobile app where supported. Sync depends on network connectivity, account status, subscription entitlements, and service availability. We do not guarantee that sync will be immediate, complete, conflict-free, or error-free.

6.2 Subscriptions and Pro features

Unlimited AI colony counting and other Pro features require an active Lab Laps subscription purchased through lablaps.com. Subscription terms, billing, refunds, and cancellation are governed by the policies on lablaps.com.

6.3 Local storage, backups, and data loss

The website may also keep working copies in your browser (for example local storage). Data in your browser can be lost if you clear site data, use private browsing, switch browsers or devices, or if the browser storage is corrupted or reset. Cloud-stored data can be affected by account deletion, service errors, maintenance, sync conflicts, or actions you take in the workspace (including delete controls). You are solely responsible for maintaining backups of anything important. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any loss, corruption, or deletion of your projects, images, counts, settings, or other data, including loss caused by bugs, outages, sync failures, or user error.

7. Intellectual Property

Website content, branding, and design elements are owned by Lab Laps or its licensors and protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

Except as permitted by mandatory law, you may not copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from protected website content.

8. Third-Party Links and Services

The website may contain links to third-party sites or services, including lablaps.com for account management and subscriptions. We are not responsible for third-party content, availability, or privacy practices. Use of third-party services is governed by their own terms and policies.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

We do not warrant that the website will meet your requirements, be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, that defects or bugs will be corrected, or that tool output, on-screen display, exports, or synced data will be accurate, complete, or preserved. No advice or information from us creates any warranty not expressly stated in these Terms.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties; in such jurisdictions, the above exclusions may not apply to you, and our liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL LAB LAPS OR ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, LICENSORS, OR SERVICE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOSS OF DATA, PROFITS, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR THESE TERMS, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, OUR TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY FOR ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE WEBSITE OR THESE TERMS SHALL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS ($100 USD), OR, IF YOU HAVE PAID US FOR A LAB LAPS SUBSCRIPTION OR SERVICE IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS BEFORE THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY, THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THAT SERVICE IN THAT PERIOD, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages; in such jurisdictions, our liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by law. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable mandatory law.

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Lab Laps from claims, losses, or costs arising from your misuse of the website, your violation of these Terms, or your violation of applicable law or third-party rights.

12. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or restrict access if reasonably necessary for security, legal compliance, maintenance, or abuse prevention.

13. Changes to Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. Updated terms are effective when posted on this page.

14. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by applicable law. Mandatory consumer protection laws in your country of residence remain unaffected where required.

Any dispute will be submitted to the competent courts unless mandatory law provides otherwise.

15. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full force and effect.

16. Contact

If you have legal questions, contact us at support@lablaps.com.