At a glance
- Strictly necessary technologies may be used without optional consent when they are essential to a service requested by the visitor.
- Functional, analytics, and advertising technologies should remain disabled until valid consent is obtained where applicable law requires it.
- Meridian will not publish a guessed cookie list; the inventory must reflect the technologies actually observed on the deployed website.
- Visitors should be able to reject non-essential technologies and later change their choices as easily as they accepted them.
1. What this policy covers
This Cookie Policy explains how Meridian uses or may use cookies and similar technologies on its public website. It should be read with the Privacy Notice and Terms of Use.
The policy covers technologies controlled by Meridian and technologies placed by third parties through features Meridian chooses to use. Independent websites reached through external links are governed by their own policies.
Because the live provider inventory is not yet confirmed, this draft describes the governing rules and categories but does not claim that a particular named cookie is active.
2. Cookies and similar technologies
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks a browser to store on a computer, phone, or other device. Cookies can remember a session, preference, identifier, or prior action.
Similar technologies include local storage, session storage, software development kits, tags, pixels, web beacons, scripts, link decoration, and device or browser identifiers. Some store information on a device; others read information, send an event, or help recognize a browser or interaction.
In this policy, cookie means cookies and these similar storage or access technologies unless a distinction is necessary.
3. First-party and third-party technologies
First-party cookies are placed from Meridian's website domain. Third-party cookies or technologies are controlled by another provider whose service is loaded through the website.
A third party may receive information produced by its technology and process that information under its own privacy terms. Meridian should identify the provider and purpose before enabling the technology and should link to relevant provider information where appropriate.
The fact that a browser, extension, network provider, or operating system places its own technology does not mean Meridian controls it.
4. Session and persistent technologies
Session cookies generally expire when the browser session ends. Persistent cookies remain until their configured expiration date or until they are removed.
Local storage may remain until it is deleted by the website, browser, or visitor. Session storage generally ends with the relevant browser tab or session. Provider-controlled pixels and identifiers follow the provider's documented retention behavior.
Meridian should use durations proportionate to each purpose and publish the actual duration for every item in the confirmed inventory.
5. Why these technologies may be used
Meridian organizes storage and access technologies into Strictly Necessary, Functional, Analytics, and Advertising categories. The category definitions and current inventory appear above.
A technology used for more than one purpose must be evaluated for every purpose. A security or functional label must not be used to avoid consent when the same identifier is also used for analytics, profiling, or advertising.
Strictly Necessary
Technologies essential to transmit communications, maintain security, balance traffic, remember privacy choices, preserve form or checkout state, authenticate an authorized user, or provide another feature explicitly requested by the visitor.
- Security and fraud-prevention tokens
- Load-balancing and availability controls
- Cookie-consent preference storage
- Short-lived form, checkout, or authentication state
Always active. Needed for the website to work.
Functional
Optional technologies that remember choices or enable enhanced features that are useful but not essential to provide the basic website.
- Language, region, layout, or interface preferences
- Embedded video, map, scheduling, chat, or social features
- Persistent convenience settings
Off by default. Used only with your consent.
Analytics
Optional technologies used to measure visits, traffic sources, navigation, events, performance, errors, conversions, and the effectiveness of website content.
- Page-view and session measurement
- Traffic-source and campaign attribution
- Interaction, conversion, performance, and error measurement
Off by default. Used only with your consent.
Advertising and Personalization
Optional technologies used to measure advertising, build or use audience segments, personalize marketing, limit ad frequency, or recognize a browser across websites or services.
- Advertising conversion tags
- Retargeting or audience pixels
- Cross-site or cross-service identifiers
- Personalized advertising measurement
Off by default. Used only with your consent.
6. Current cookie inventory
No named public-site cookies have been confirmed in this draft. Empty category tables mean the production inventory is pending; they do not prove that the deployed website, hosting layer, administrative studio, or a selected third-party service places no technology.
Before publication, Meridian should scan the deployed site without consent, after accepting each optional category, after rejecting optional categories, and while using forms, scheduling, payment, media, maps, social links, and any authenticated areas.
The inventory should be reviewed after releases and provider changes and at a regular interval appropriate to the website's rate of change.
7. Consent and strictly necessary technologies
Where applicable law requires it, Meridian should obtain freely given, specific, informed, affirmative consent before placing or accessing any non-essential technology. Continuing to browse, silence, inactivity, or a preselected control should not be treated as consent.
Strictly necessary technologies may be exempt from optional consent only when they are essential to transmit a communication or provide a service the visitor expressly requested. A technology that is merely convenient or useful to Meridian is not automatically necessary.
Rejecting optional technologies should not prevent access to basic website content. A feature that relies on an optional third party may remain unavailable until the visitor chooses to activate it.
8. Managing and withdrawing preferences
When non-essential technologies are enabled, the website should provide a preference control that allows visitors to accept or reject them by category. Rejecting should be as prominent and straightforward as accepting.
Visitors should be able to reopen the control and withdraw or change consent at any time. Withdrawal should stop future optional processing, although information lawfully collected before withdrawal may be retained as described in the Privacy Notice.
The preference-center link is currently unconfirmed and must be added to this policy, the website footer, and any cookie banner before optional technologies are activated.
9. Browser, device, and privacy-signal controls
Most browsers allow visitors to view, delete, block, or restrict cookies and other site data. Blocking all storage can affect security, forms, checkout, authentication, saved choices, and other requested features.
Private-browsing modes and browser extensions may reduce local storage or tracking but do not necessarily prevent all network requests or provider processing.
Meridian will document how legally recognized browser-based opt-out preference signals are handled after the production consent platform and applicable jurisdictions are confirmed.
10. Third-party features and external websites
Payment, scheduling, embedded media, maps, social content, chat, forms, and other provider features may place their own technologies when loaded or selected. Where practical, optional third-party features should remain blocked until the visitor activates the relevant category.
External websites opened from Meridian may place different cookies that Meridian does not control. Review the third party's privacy and cookie information before using its service.
Authorized administrative users may encounter authentication, security, or session technologies from content-management providers that are not used for ordinary public visitors.
11. Changes to this policy
Meridian may update this policy when technologies, providers, purposes, consent requirements, or laws change. The last-updated date will identify the current version.
If a change introduces a new non-essential purpose or makes an existing purpose materially different, Meridian should update the preference control and obtain new consent where required.
12. Questions and feedback
Contact Meridian with questions about this policy, a particular technology, a consent choice, or the handling of related personal information.
The legal name, privacy email, mailing address, jurisdiction, effective date, and preference-center link must be confirmed before this policy is published.