Legal
Cookie Policy
This Cookie Policy explains how Essential Comps uses cookies and similar technologies, and how you can choose which optional cookies we use.
Last updated: 17 October 2026
What cookies are
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. They let the website remember things — for example what is in your basket, or that you are signed in. Similar technologies, such as tags (small pieces of code that send information to an analytics or advertising provider) and the storage used by an embedded video player, work in the same way and are covered by this policy too.
Your choices
When you first visit, we ask whether you are happy for us to use optional cookies. Nothing optional runs until you have chosen. You can accept all, keep essential cookies only, or choose category by category — and change your mind at any time using Cookie settings at the bottom of every page. If you switch a category off, its cookies are no longer used and, where we can, they are removed.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block essential cookies, parts of the website (such as your basket and signing in) will not work.
Site statistics — and how to object
Separately from optional cookies, our own website counts, in total, how it is used so that we can improve it: for example how many times each competition page is viewed, how many tickets are added to baskets, how many baskets reach checkout and how many purchases follow. These are daily totals only.
- No cookie or similar technology is set for this, and nothing that identifies you, your device or your account is stored with the totals — no name, account, order number, IP address, browser details, visitor identifier or where you came from.
- Each visit simply adds one to a daily total. Your visits are not linked together or to your account, and the totals are never shared with advertisers or used for advertising or to make decisions about anyone.
- Counting basket activity involves the essential basket cookie your browser already sends us. UK law allows information on your device to be used to produce statistics about how a website is used, with a view to improving it, without asking for consent first — provided you are told about it clearly and can object easily and free of charge. That is what this section is for.
How to object: switch off Site statistics in Cookie settings, or use the button below. From then on, your visits on this browser are not counted at all. Your choice is remembered in the essential ec_consent cookie, so it applies to each browser or device you use; you can switch it back on at any time. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat that as an objection too.
Site statistics are on unless you object.
The cookies we use
Essential — always on
These cookies are needed for the website to work and cannot be switched off.
| Cookie | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|
ec_consent | Remembers your cookie choices, so we don’t ask again on every page. | 12 months |
ec_welcome_offer | Stops the new-customer offer from showing again once you’ve closed it, or once you’ve signed in on this device. | 30 days after closing it; 12 months after signing in |
PHPSESSID | Keeps the contents of your basket while you browse. | Until you close your browser |
wordpress_logged_in_… and wordpress_sec_… | Keep you signed in to your account securely. | Until you close your browser or sign out |
When you pay by card, the secure payment window of our payment provider, DNA Payments, opens over our page and uses its own cookies to process your payment safely. That window is provided by DNA Payments, not by us. DNA’s payment script is also loaded on the basket page, ready for payment. To authenticate payments and prevent fraud, DNA’s payment window uses security and fraud-prevention services that check your device, browser and connection (for example services from Signifyd and LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ ThreatMetrix), card-scheme authentication services (such as Mastercard’s) and, where your device supports it, Apple Pay components. These are used for the security of the payment you are making, not for our advertising. See our Privacy Policy.
Analytics & attribution — optional
These cookies tell us how you found us — for example the advert, campaign, social post or shared link you followed, or the website you came from (its domain only) — and how our website is used, so we can see which channels work and improve the site. They are only set if you allow this category. If you allow it, we also keep a record of your journey through the site (competitions viewed, basket and checkout steps, and the source of your visit) under a coded visitor reference for 90 days, to work out which channels lead to purchases; it is not linked to your name or account.
Google Analytics is only loaded if you allow this category. Until then, Google’s tag is not loaded at all. Google signals and ad personalisation are switched off in our Google Analytics tag, and if you allow analytics but not marketing, Google is also told that advertising storage is not allowed.
| Cookie | Set by | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
ec_first_touch | Essential Comps | Remembers how you first found us. If you arrived through a customer’s shared link, it also lets us count your click once, however often you return. | 90 days |
ec_last_touch | Essential Comps | Remembers how you most recently found us. | 90 days |
_ga, _ga_… | Google Analytics | Distinguish visitors and visits so we can measure how the website is used (pages viewed, journeys, purchases). Google processes this information under its privacy policy. | Up to 2 years |
Marketing — optional
These cookies and tags are used by our advertising partners, such as Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram), to measure how well our adverts work (for example whether an advert led to a visit or a purchase) and to show our adverts to people likely to be interested in them. They are only used if you allow this category.
| Cookie | Set by | What it does | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
ec_ad_click | Essential Comps | Remembers the reference of the Google or Meta advert you clicked (gclid, gbraid, wbraid or fbclid in the link), so a purchase can be credited to that advert. Without marketing consent, or while we don’t use that provider’s advertising tools, these references are ignored and not stored. | 90 days |
ec_track_signup | Essential Comps | Lets the page after you create an account report the sign-up once to the analytics and advertising tools you allowed. Set only if you allowed analytics or marketing. | 10 minutes |
_fbp, _fbc | Meta | Identify your browser and the Meta advert you clicked, so Meta can measure and improve our adverts. Meta processes this information under its privacy policy. | Up to 90 days |
_gcl_… | Google Ads | Remember the Google advert you clicked, so Google can measure whether it led to a purchase. | Up to 90 days |
With your permission for this category, we may also send Meta details of a purchase or account sign-up directly from our servers (Meta’s Conversions API), so that it can be matched to the advert that led to it: the event and its time, what was bought and its value, the _fbp / _fbc references above, your browser details and IP address, and your customer number protected by one-way encryption. We don’t send your name, email address or phone number. We don’t do any of this if you haven’t allowed marketing cookies, and we use the choice you had made when you placed the order.
Live Draw video — optional
Live Draws can be shown in the Draw Centre using an embedded YouTube player, and some competition pages include YouTube videos. We use YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com). When a YouTube player loads, YouTube may store information on your device and receive information such as your IP address, under Google’s Privacy Policy.
- If you allow this category, the Draw Centre can load the Live Draw player by itself.
- If you don’t, nothing from YouTube loads until you press Play on a video.
Changes to this Cookie Policy
If you withdraw a choice, the matching tools stop, Google is told that consent is now denied, Meta’s Pixel is told consent is revoked, and the cookies above that we can remove are deleted from your browser. Information already sent before you changed your mind is not recalled from the provider; see our Privacy Policy for your rights.
The exact cookies a provider sets can change from time to time. We keep the lists above up to date, and the latest version is always on this page with its last updated date. For more about how we use personal information, see our Privacy Policy.
Questions? Email info@essentialcomps.co.uk.