Incorrect Timestamps in Gmail When Using Firefox
For several months I have noticed that the timestamps on my Gmail emails are 5 hours ahead of my actual time, when I use Firefox to check Gmail. These incorrect timestamps do not occur when checking Gmail, using Chrome and other browsers; so it appears to be something occurring only with Firefox.
I communicated with Gmail support staff; and they think it may be due to Firefox's anti-fingerprinting configuration settings that sandboxes the session to the point where the browser has no idea which timezone you are in. The timezone then gets sets to UTC time for everyone, rather than the timezone set on the individual computer.
The only option to get back the correct timestamp in Gmail, using Firefox, is to disable the the anti-fingerprinting value in about:config. However, this then disables other anti-fingerprinting privacy protections.
Is it possible for Mozilla to add an option to leave the timezone out of your anti-fingerprinting configuration settings, as that information is not really giving much privacy info away about anyone?
Please advise, and also let me know if there is a work-around to get my correct timestamp back in Gmail, without disabling anti-fingerprinting in about:config
Thank you for your attention to this matter and any assistance you can provide.
Chosen solution
Yes, the default for privacy.resistFingerprinting is false as you can see that setting it to true makes it appear bold and there is also a button to reset this pref at the far right. If you are the only person with privacy.resistFingerprinting enabled then you are easily identifiable on that server as this leaves a very distinct signature that can easily detected. Using content blocking extensions and clearing unimportant cookies when you close Firefox or using Private Browsing mode is usually sufficient to prevent tracking.
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This is a consequence of using "Resist Fingerprinting" and currently your only option is to disable this feature as you probably know. Support for this feature is merely aimed at the Tor browser and not for usage in a regular release as it has more disadvantages like being in the UTC (GMT) timezone and possibly font issues and a fixed (rounded) screen size.
Are you saying that the default setting in Firefox in about:config for privacy.resistFingerprinting is false, not true?
If this is the case, I understand that the value of true for this setting was either set by me or by one or more of my extensions. Could any of these extensions have enabled this anti-fingerprinting setting? (uBlock Origin, Decentraleyes, Privacy Badger, or Qwant?)
Are you also saying that if disabling the privacy.resistFingerprinting configuration setting, Firefox still provides sufficient anti-fingerprinting protection? That this setting only applies to using the Tor browser?
Thanks.
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Yes, the default for privacy.resistFingerprinting is false as you can see that setting it to true makes it appear bold and there is also a button to reset this pref at the far right. If you are the only person with privacy.resistFingerprinting enabled then you are easily identifiable on that server as this leaves a very distinct signature that can easily detected. Using content blocking extensions and clearing unimportant cookies when you close Firefox or using Private Browsing mode is usually sufficient to prevent tracking.
Thank you for that clarification. Since I am using several good tracker blocker extensions, I trust that I am reasonably protected. So, I will reset the privacy.resistFingerprinting configuration value to false, and see if that corrects the timestamp problem in Gmail.
Thank you for your time and assistance.
You're welcome
Timestamp problem in Gmail should be gone when you have disabled resist fingerprinting as that would set you in your local timezone and not in the UTC timezone.