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Show time zone in todo's timestamp? (privacy implications, please read!)
Currently, for each todo you post on the site, we include the UTC datetime that it was posted. We format it as a "relative date" so it says something like "2 hours ago" or "3 weeks ago", etc.
Some people have asked for an option to see the "absolute date" (e.g. 23:02 on 16 November 2023".
Also, sometimes there's confusion about people losing their streaks, due to changing time zones.
So to address both issues, I'm considering adding the following datetime format to each posted todo:
17:40 · 06/08/2024 CEST
It shows the time, date, and the associated time zone. So if you were in the CEST time zone when completing the todo, it would show as such.
In the homepage and profile feeds it would still show the relative date. But when clicking into a specific todo, it would show this absolute date.
My hope is that this is useful in providing a more exact time of when a todo happened. In addition, I hope it clears up any confusion about lost streaks. As is absolute, time-zone adjusted datetime is the exact same data we use to calculate the streaks.
There's one potential issue with this: it exposes the time zone you were in when completing the todo. Which is a rough proxy of your location at that time.
That's why I would like to get your input:
Are you okay with exposing your time zone to the public? (if your profile is set to private, it will of course be limited to members only)
I considered making this user configurable, but that adds a lot of complexity in both code, caching, and user experience. I also considered only showing the time zone to author of each todo, but this leads to similar challenges.
Most people already publicize their location (city or country) in various ways (WIP profile, Twitter profile, Instagram geo-tagged posts, etc). But I want to be mindful about the privacy implications regardless, hence me posing the question to the community first.
Some people have asked for an option to see the "absolute date" (e.g. 23:02 on 16 November 2023".
Also, sometimes there's confusion about people losing their streaks, due to changing time zones.
So to address both issues, I'm considering adding the following datetime format to each posted todo:
17:40 · 06/08/2024 CEST
It shows the time, date, and the associated time zone. So if you were in the CEST time zone when completing the todo, it would show as such.
In the homepage and profile feeds it would still show the relative date. But when clicking into a specific todo, it would show this absolute date.
My hope is that this is useful in providing a more exact time of when a todo happened. In addition, I hope it clears up any confusion about lost streaks. As is absolute, time-zone adjusted datetime is the exact same data we use to calculate the streaks.
There's one potential issue with this: it exposes the time zone you were in when completing the todo. Which is a rough proxy of your location at that time.
That's why I would like to get your input:
Are you okay with exposing your time zone to the public? (if your profile is set to private, it will of course be limited to members only)
I considered making this user configurable, but that adds a lot of complexity in both code, caching, and user experience. I also considered only showing the time zone to author of each todo, but this leads to similar challenges.
Most people already publicize their location (city or country) in various ways (WIP profile, Twitter profile, Instagram geo-tagged posts, etc). But I want to be mindful about the privacy implications regardless, hence me posing the question to the community first.
👋 Join WIP to participate
No problem with you exposing my tick pics (trying to be funny, not sure it worked out.)
Seems fine to me wrt privacy concerns.
That said: why not add a toggle to turn this on/off on a per-member level instead of per-privacy-setting level? That would make everyone happy, even people that don't want this.
Not sure how you've configured streaks, but you could add a 24h time period after each To Do in which you can't lose your streak if you add another one, no matter the local time/location.
For example: I add a To Do in Amsterdam, January 1st 23:15 and take a flight to Tokyo. Ten hours after my 13 hour flight, (23 hours later) I post my next to do. It's January 3rd, 06:15 local time, so I would lose my streak. But since it's within the 24h time period after my last To Do, I keep my streak.
Saves you some work on implementing time zones, and you don't have to worry about privacy.