Cookie Policy
Understanding how Solar Meridian Sundial uses cookies to enhance your experience, maintain security, and provide transparent lottery services.
Introduction
This Cookie Policy explains how MegaPrizeAU.com uses cookies and similar tracking technologies on our Australian lottery platform. We believe in complete transparency about how we collect, use, and protect your information.
By using our website, you consent to the use of cookies as described in this policy. You can control and manage cookies through your browser settings and our cookie consent tools.
Table of Contents
What Are Cookies?
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer or mobile device when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently and provide information to website owners.
Cookies allow websites to remember your actions and preferences over a period of time, so you don't have to keep re-entering information whenever you visit the site or browse from one page to another.
First-Party Cookies
These cookies are set directly by MegaPrizeAU.com. We use them to operate our lottery platform, remember your preferences, and provide essential functionality.
Third-Party Cookies
These cookies are set by external services we use, such as payment processors and analytics providers. They help us deliver secure, efficient services.
Session Cookies
Temporary cookies that are deleted when you close your browser. They help us maintain your session as you navigate through our website.
Persistent Cookies
These cookies remain on your device for a set period or until you delete them. They remember your preferences across multiple visits.
How We Use Cookies
Solar Meridian Sundial uses cookies for several important purposes related to operating a secure, compliant, and user-friendly Australian lottery platform:
Essential Website Functionality
Ensuring the website operates correctly, maintaining secure connections, and remembering your session as you navigate.
Age Verification Compliance
Remembering that you've completed age verification to comply with Australian gaming regulations requiring 18+ access.
Security and Fraud Prevention
Protecting your account from unauthorized access and detecting suspicious activity that may indicate fraud.
Payment Processing
Facilitating secure lottery ticket purchases through trusted payment processors while maintaining PCI compliance.
Responsible Gaming Features
Supporting responsible play by remembering your self-imposed limits, cooling-off periods, and participation preferences.
Personalized Experience
Remembering your language preference, timezone settings, and lottery game preferences for a tailored experience.
Analytics and Improvement
Understanding how visitors use our website to improve functionality, identify issues, and enhance user experience.
Marketing Communications
Delivering relevant lottery promotions and jackpot updates based on your interests and consent preferences.
Essential Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are essential for the basic operation of our lottery website. Without them, you cannot access key features or navigate the site effectively. Essential cookies cannot be disabled through our cookie consent tool, as they are required for the website to function.
Session Management Cookies
Maintain your logged-in session as you move between pages. These cookies are essential for account security and prevent you from having to log in repeatedly.
Duration: Session (deleted when browser closes)
Security Cookies
Protect against cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks and other security threats. These cookies verify that requests to our server come from authorized sources.
Duration: Session or up to 24 hours
Load Balancing Cookies
Ensure your requests are routed to the correct server for optimal performance and reliability. These cookies help distribute traffic efficiently across our infrastructure.
Duration: Session (deleted when browser closes)
Cart and Transaction Cookies
Remember your lottery ticket selections and maintain transaction integrity during the purchase process. These cookies prevent data loss during checkout.
Duration: Session or up to 1 hour
User Interface State Cookies
Remember UI preferences such as menu expansion states, modal dismissals, and navigation choices to improve usability.
Duration: Session or up to 7 days
Age Verification Cookies
18+ Legal Requirement
Australian law requires that lottery participants be 18 years of age or older. Age verification cookies are essential for compliance with gaming regulations and protecting minors from underage gambling.
These cookies remember that you've successfully completed age verification, so you don't need to verify your age on every visit. This improves user experience while maintaining legal compliance.
Age Gate Verification Cookie
Stores confirmation that you've verified your age as 18 or older. This prevents the age gate from appearing on every page visit while maintaining a record of verification for regulatory purposes.
Duration: 30 days (persistent)
Age Verification Method Cookie
Records the method used for age verification (self-declaration, ID verification) for audit and compliance tracking. This information helps us maintain regulatory records.
Duration: 90 days (persistent)
Age Verification Timestamp
Stores the date and time of age verification for regulatory compliance and audit trails. This timestamp proves when verification occurred.
Duration: 90 days (persistent)
Important: Age verification cookies are essential and cannot be disabled. They are required by law to prevent underage access to lottery services.
Clearing these cookies will require you to verify your age again on your next visit.
Payment Security Cookies
Secure Payment Processing
When you purchase lottery tickets, we use secure payment processors that set their own cookies to facilitate safe, PCI-compliant transactions. These cookies protect your payment information and prevent fraud.
Payment security cookies are essential for processing transactions and cannot be disabled if you wish to purchase lottery tickets online.
Payment Gateway Session Cookies
Maintain your payment session with our secure payment processors. These cookies ensure your transaction remains secure from start to completion.
Duration: Session (deleted after transaction completes)
Fraud Detection Cookies
Analyze transaction patterns to detect and prevent fraudulent activity. These cookies help protect both you and us from payment fraud.
Duration: Up to 24 hours (persistent)
PCI Compliance Cookies
Support Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance by securely handling payment information without storing sensitive card data.
Duration: Session (deleted when browser closes)
Transaction Verification Cookies
Verify transaction authenticity and prevent duplicate charges. These cookies ensure you're charged correctly and only once per purchase.
Duration: Up to 1 hour (persistent)
Payment Method Preference Cookies
Remember your preferred payment method (with your consent) to streamline future purchases while maintaining security.
Duration: Up to 90 days (persistent)
Analytics Cookies
Understanding User Behavior
Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our lottery website. We use this information to improve functionality, identify technical issues, and enhance overall user experience.
These cookies collect anonymous, aggregated data and do not identify you personally. You can opt out of analytics cookies through our cookie consent settings.
Page View Tracking Cookies
Record which pages you visit to understand popular content and identify areas for improvement. This helps us optimize navigation and content placement.
Duration: Up to 24 months (persistent)
User Journey Cookies
Track the path visitors take through our website to identify common user flows and potential obstacles in the lottery ticket purchase process.
Duration: Up to 30 days (persistent)
Performance Monitoring Cookies
Measure website load times, identify slow pages, and detect technical issues that affect user experience. These cookies help us maintain fast, reliable service.
Duration: Up to 90 days (persistent)
Error Tracking Cookies
Identify JavaScript errors, broken links, and other technical problems so we can fix them quickly and maintain a smooth user experience.
Duration: Up to 7 days (persistent)
Device and Browser Cookies
Collect information about devices and browsers used to access our website to ensure compatibility and optimize responsive design.
Duration: Up to 24 months (persistent)
Marketing Cookies
Personalized Promotions
Marketing cookies help us deliver relevant lottery promotions, jackpot updates, and special offers based on your interests and preferences. These cookies enable personalized communication while respecting your privacy.
You can control marketing cookies through our cookie consent settings. Opting out will not prevent you from using our lottery services, but you may receive less relevant promotional content.
Interest-Based Advertising Cookies
Track your lottery game preferences to show you promotions for draws you're most interested in. This ensures you see relevant jackpot alerts and special offers.
Duration: Up to 12 months (persistent)
Campaign Tracking Cookies
Measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and promotional offers. These cookies help us understand which promotions resonate with players.
Duration: Up to 90 days (persistent)
Promotional Banner Cookies
Remember which promotional banners you've seen or dismissed to avoid showing you the same promotion repeatedly.
Duration: Up to 30 days (persistent)
Email Campaign Cookies
Track email opens and clicks to measure engagement with lottery newsletters and promotional emails (with your consent).
Duration: Up to 90 days (persistent)
Communication Preference Cookies
Remember your marketing communication preferences, including which types of promotions you want to receive and preferred contact methods.
Duration: Up to 24 months (persistent)
Responsible Gaming Cookies
Supporting Healthy Play
Responsible gaming cookies help us support your wellbeing by remembering your self-imposed limits, cooling-off periods, and participation preferences. These cookies are essential for implementing player protection features.
These cookies ensure your responsible gaming settings are enforced across all sessions and devices where you're logged in.
Spending Limit Cookies
Track your lottery ticket purchases against self-imposed spending limits (daily, weekly, or monthly). These cookies prevent you from exceeding limits you've set.
Duration: Up to 90 days (persistent)
Time Limit Cookies
Remember your session time limits and remind you when you've reached your self-imposed time boundaries for lottery participation.
Duration: Session or up to 24 hours (persistent)
Cooling-Off Period Cookies
Enforce cooling-off periods and self-exclusion timeframes. These cookies prevent access to lottery purchases during voluntary breaks.
Duration: Duration of cooling-off period (persistent)
Reality Check Cookies
Trigger periodic reminders about how long you've been on the site and how much you've spent, helping maintain awareness of gaming activity.
Duration: Session (deleted when browser closes)
Responsible Gaming Preference Cookies
Remember your choices for responsible gaming notifications, warnings, and support resource visibility.
Duration: Up to 24 months (persistent)
Important: Responsible gaming cookies are essential for player protection and cannot be disabled. Clearing these cookies will reset your limits and preferences.
For more information about responsible gaming features, visit our Responsible Gaming page.
Third-Party Cookies
We use trusted third-party services to provide secure payment processing, analytics, and other essential functionality. These services may set their own cookies when you use our lottery website.
Third-party cookies are governed by the privacy policies of the respective service providers. We carefully select partners who meet our standards for security, privacy, and regulatory compliance.
Payment Processors
Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay set cookies to facilitate secure lottery ticket purchases and prevent payment fraud.
These cookies are essential for payment processing and PCI compliance.
Analytics Providers
Web analytics services help us understand website usage patterns, identify technical issues, and improve user experience.
You can opt out of analytics cookies through our cookie consent settings.
Security Services
Fraud detection and bot protection services use cookies to identify suspicious activity and protect against automated attacks.
These cookies are essential for maintaining website security and integrity.
Mapping Services
Google Maps cookies enable our location finder feature, helping you find authorized lottery retailers near you.
Required for displaying maps and providing directions to retail locations.
Font Services
Google Fonts may set cookies when loading custom typography for our sundial-themed design.
These cookies improve performance by caching font files locally.
Email Services
Email marketing platforms use cookies to track campaign performance and measure engagement with lottery newsletters (with your consent).
You can opt out through email preferences or cookie consent settings.
Third-Party Privacy Policies:
We encourage you to review the privacy policies of our third-party service providers to understand how they collect and use data. We are not responsible for third-party privacy practices, but we carefully vet all partners for compliance and security standards.
Cookie Duration
Cookies have different lifespans depending on their purpose. Understanding cookie duration helps you manage your privacy and control what information is stored on your device.
Session Cookies
Duration: Deleted when you close your browser
Used For:
- Maintaining login sessions
- Shopping cart contents
- Temporary security tokens
- Load balancing
Short-Term Persistent
Duration: 24 hours to 7 days
Used For:
- Security tokens
- Fraud detection
- Error tracking
- UI state preferences
Medium-Term Persistent
Duration: 30 days to 90 days
Used For:
- Age verification status
- User journey tracking
- Campaign measurement
- Responsible gaming limits
Long-Term Persistent
Duration: 12 months to 24 months
Used For:
- User preferences
- Language and timezone
- Analytics and performance
- Marketing preferences
Managing Cookies
You have control over cookies. You can manage, restrict, or delete cookies through our cookie consent tool and your browser settings. However, disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.
Our Cookie Consent Tool
When you first visit our website, you'll see a cookie consent banner allowing you to accept or decline non-essential cookies. You can change your preferences at any time.
To Manage Cookie Preferences:
- Look for the cookie consent banner at the bottom of the page
- Click "Learn More" to view detailed cookie settings
- Toggle individual cookie categories on or off
- Save your preferences and continue browsing
Browser Cookie Settings
All major browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. You can block all cookies, accept only first-party cookies, or delete cookies after each session.
Browser-Specific Instructions:
Google Chrome
Settings > Privacy and security > Cookies and other site data
Mozilla Firefox
Options > Privacy & Security > Cookies and Site Data
Safari
Preferences > Privacy > Manage Website Data
Microsoft Edge
Settings > Privacy, search, and services > Cookies
Deleting Cookies
You can delete existing cookies at any time through your browser settings. This will remove all stored cookies, including those necessary for website functionality.
Note: Deleting cookies may log you out of your account, reset your preferences, and require age verification on your next visit.
Private Browsing Mode
Most browsers offer a private or incognito mode that doesn't store cookies after you close the browser. This is useful if you're using a shared computer.
However, websites will still set session cookies during private browsing, and essential functionality like age verification will need to be completed again.
Cookie Consent
When you first visit Solar Meridian Sundial, we'll ask for your consent to use non-essential cookies. You can choose to accept all cookies, accept only essential cookies, or customize your preferences.
Your consent choices are stored in a cookie (ironically) so we remember your preferences on future visits. You can change your mind and update your consent at any time.
Accept All
Consent to all cookies including analytics and marketing cookies. This provides the best experience and helps us improve our services.
Customize
Choose which cookie categories to enable. Toggle individual categories based on your preferences and privacy requirements.
Essential Only
Decline non-essential cookies and use only those strictly necessary for website operation, security, and regulatory compliance.
Implied Consent
By continuing to use our website after seeing the cookie consent banner, you imply consent to our use of cookies as described in this policy.
However, we always recommend making an explicit choice through our consent tool to ensure your preferences are properly recorded.
Impact of Disabling Cookies
Important Notice
While you can disable non-essential cookies, doing so may significantly impact your experience on our lottery website. Some features may not work correctly or at all without cookies enabled.
Login and Account Access
Impact: You may be unable to log in or stay logged in while navigating the website.
Session cookies are essential for maintaining secure account access.
Age Verification
Impact: You'll need to verify your age every time you visit the website, which can be inconvenient.
Age verification cookies are essential for regulatory compliance.
Lottery Ticket Purchases
Impact: You may be unable to complete lottery ticket purchases without payment security cookies.
Payment cookies are essential for secure transactions and PCI compliance.
Responsible Gaming Features
Impact: Self-imposed spending limits, time limits, and cooling-off periods cannot be enforced without cookies.
These cookies are essential for player protection and responsible gaming compliance.
User Preferences
Impact: Language, timezone, and interface preferences won't be remembered between visits.
You'll need to reconfigure preferences each time you visit the website.
Personalized Content
Impact: You may see less relevant lottery promotions and jackpot updates without marketing cookies.
This is a minor inconvenience and doesn't affect core functionality.
Website Improvements
Impact: We won't be able to track how you use the website to identify and fix issues without analytics cookies.
Your feedback helps us improve the lottery platform for all players.
Recommendation
For the best experience and full access to all lottery features, we recommend accepting all cookies.
You can always change your preferences later through our cookie consent tool.
Detailed Cookie List
Comprehensive list of specific cookies used on our lottery website
| Cookie Name | Purpose | Category | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| session_id | Maintains your logged-in session | Essential | Session |
| csrf_token | Prevents cross-site request forgery attacks | Essential | Session |
| age_verified | Records age verification status | Essential | 30 days |
| age_verify_timestamp | Stores age verification timestamp for audit | Essential | 90 days |
| payment_session | Maintains secure payment processor session | Essential | 1 hour |
| fraud_detection | Analyzes patterns to prevent payment fraud | Essential | 24 hours |
| rg_spending_limit | Tracks spending against self-imposed limits | RG Essential | 90 days |
| rg_cooling_off | Enforces voluntary cooling-off periods | RG Essential | Period duration |
| analytics_id | Anonymous user identifier for analytics | Analytics | 24 months |
| page_views | Tracks pages visited for usage analysis | Analytics | 24 months |
| user_journey | Tracks navigation paths through website | Analytics | 30 days |
| performance_metrics | Measures page load times and performance | Analytics | 90 days |
| marketing_prefs | Stores marketing communication preferences | Marketing | 12 months |
| campaign_tracking | Measures effectiveness of promotions | Marketing | 90 days |
| lottery_interests | Tracks lottery game preferences for targeting | Marketing | 12 months |
| cookie_consent | Remembers your cookie consent choices | Preference | 12 months |
| language_pref | Stores preferred language setting | Preference | 24 months |
| timezone_pref | Stores timezone preference for draw times | Preference | 24 months |
Note: This list represents the primary cookies used on our lottery website. Third-party services may set additional cookies. Cookie names and durations are subject to change as we update our technology and comply with evolving regulations.
Updates to This Policy
We may update this Cookie Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other operational needs. When we make significant changes, we'll notify you through prominent notices on our website.
We encourage you to review this Cookie Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use cookies and protect your privacy.
Notification of Changes
When we update this Cookie Policy, we'll display a notice on our homepage and update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we may also send email notifications to registered users.
Effective Date
Changes to this Cookie Policy become effective immediately upon posting unless otherwise stated. Your continued use of the website after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Previous Versions
Previous versions of this Cookie Policy are archived and available upon request. Contact our privacy team if you need access to historical policy versions.
Contact Us
Questions about our Cookie Policy? We're here to help.
Related Policies
For more information about how we protect your privacy and handle your data:
Your Privacy Matters
We're committed to transparency about how we use cookies and protect your information. Your trust is our priority.
Manage your cookie preferences anytime to control your privacy and experience.