Terms of Service

Last Updated: April 15, 2026. These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("User," "you," "your") and Great Lakes Water Lab ("we," "us," "our," "the Lab") governing your access to and use of the website GreatLakesWaterLab.com, including all subdomains, content, data, tools, features, and services (collectively, the "Service"). By accessing or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, you must immediately cease all use of the Service.

1. Definitions & Interpretation

"Service" refers to the digital ecosystem operated by Great Lakes Water Lab, including but not limited to: static and dynamic web pages, the Lakes Database, interactive monitoring tools, predictive models, educational modules, research summaries, community forums, APIs, and any associated software. "Content" encompasses all information—text, images, videos, datasets, graphs, code, and metadata—displayed on or generated by the Service. "User-Generated Content" ("UGC") is any Content submitted, posted, or uploaded by you or other users. "Account" means a registered user profile enabling personalized features.

Headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation. The words "include" and "including" are to be construed without limitation. References to statutes or regulations include any subsequent amendment or re-enactment.

2. Eligibility & Account Registration

You must be at least 16 years of age—or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, whichever is higher—to use the Service. By using the Service, you represent and warrant that you meet this age requirement and have the legal capacity to form a binding contract. Certain features (e.g., saving data queries, contributing to community science projects) require account registration.

You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information during registration and to update such information to maintain its accuracy. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. You must notify us immediately of any unauthorized use. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that provide false information or are used for fraudulent purposes.

3. Acceptable Use & User Conduct

The Service is provided for educational, research, and non-commercial personal use. You agree not to use the Service to:

• Violate any applicable local, provincial, national, or international law or regulation.
• Infringe upon the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, or other rights of Great Lakes Water Lab or any third party.
• Transmit any material that is defamatory, obscene, threatening, harassing, or otherwise objectionable.
• Introduce viruses, worms, Trojan horses, or other malicious code, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to our systems, networks, or data.
• Systematically scrape, harvest, data mine, or extract Content (including datasets) via automated means without our express prior written consent—this includes bypassing rate limits or circumventing technical measures.
• Misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity, or impersonate Great Lakes Water Lab staff, researchers, or partners.
• Use the Service or any derived data for any commercial purpose—including resale, sublicensing, or incorporating into a commercial product—without a separate written agreement.

We monitor for abusive patterns. In 2025, we identified and blocked 1,247 automated scraping attempts from non-compliant bots—a 98.3% success rate. Why does this matter? Because excessive automated traffic directly impacts our server costs and degrades the experience for legitimate students and researchers.

4. Intellectual Property Rights

The Service and its original Content (excluding User-Generated Content and publicly available government datasets) are and will remain the exclusive property of Great Lakes Water Lab and its licensors. Our trademarks, logos, service marks, and trade names, including "Great Lakes Water Lab," the wave-and-molecule icon, and the specific visual design of the website, are our intellectual property. You may not use them without our prior written permission.

We license certain datasets, tools, and educational materials under specific open licenses (e.g., Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0). The license terms for each item are displayed alongside the Content. For all other Content, you are granted a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for its intended personal, non-commercial purposes. This license does not constitute a sale of any Content.

You retain ownership of any User-Generated Content you submit. However, by submitting UGC, you grant Great Lakes Water Lab a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform that UGC in connection with the Service and our mission. This license survives termination of your account. You represent that you own or have the necessary rights to grant this license for any UGC you submit.

5. Disclaimers & Limitation of Liability

The Service and all Content are provided "as is" and "as available" without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Great Lakes Water Lab disclaims all warranties, including but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or free from viruses.

Critical Disclaimer for Scientific & Safety Use: The data, models, and predictions provided on this Service are for educational and informational purposes only. They are not a substitute for professional hydrological, environmental, or public health advice. You must not rely on information from this Service for making decisions related to public safety, drinking water safety, navigation, regulatory compliance, or commercial activities. Always consult primary sources and certified professionals. We are not responsible for any decisions or actions taken based on Content from this Service.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Great Lakes Water Lab, its directors, employees, partners, and agents shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages—including loss of profits, data, or goodwill—resulting from your access to or use of, or inability to access or use, the Service. Our total cumulative liability to you for all claims arising from or related to the Service shall not exceed one hundred Canadian dollars (CAD $100). This limitation applies regardless of the legal theory (contract, tort, negligence, etc.). Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or limitations of liability, so the above may not fully apply to you.

6. Data Protection & Privacy

Your privacy is important. Our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information are governed by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. Please review it carefully.

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom: Great Lakes Water Lab is the data controller for the personal data processed via the Service. Our lawful bases for processing include your consent (for optional communications), contractual necessity (to provide the Service), and our legitimate interests in improving our Service and furthering public water science education. You have rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR, including access, rectification, erasure, and data portability. To exercise these rights, contact us at info@GreatLakesWaterLab.com.

7. Third-Party Links & Content

The Service may contain links to third-party websites, services, or resources that are not owned or controlled by Great Lakes Water Lab (e.g., government environmental agencies, academic journals, partner organizations). We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites. You acknowledge and agree that Great Lakes Water Lab shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused by your use of any such third-party content. We encourage you to review the terms and privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

8. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including if you breach these Terms. Upon termination, your right to use the Service will cease immediately. All provisions of these Terms which by their nature should survive termination (including ownership, disclaimers, indemnity, and limitations of liability) shall survive.

10. Changes to These Terms

We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to modify or replace these Terms at any time. We will provide notice of material changes by posting the new Terms on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date. What constitutes a material change will be determined at our sole discretion. By continuing to access or use our Service after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised terms. If you do not agree to the new terms, please stop using the Service.

11. General Provisions

Entire Agreement: These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Great Lakes Water Lab regarding the Service and supersede any prior agreements.

Severability: If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the other provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Waiver: Our failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be considered a waiver of those rights.

Assignment: You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations to any affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

Force Majeure: We shall not be liable for any failure to perform our obligations due to events beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, acts of civil or military authorities, fire, floods, accidents, strikes, shortages of transportation, fuel, energy, labor, or materials.

12. Contact Information

For questions about these Terms of Service, or to serve any legal notice, please contact our designated representative:

Thank you for helping us protect the integrity of our shared water science resources.