email's time stamp

Norberto Meijome freebsd at meijome.net
Mon Jul 16 09:48:01 UTC 2007


On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 00:31:33 -0700 (PDT)
gahn <ipfreak at yahoo.com> wrote:

> thanks, Norberto:

Hi, 
please keep the list in your replies.
and please do not top post. (fixed in this reply)
> --- Norberto Meijome <freebsd at meijome.net> wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, 14 Jul 2007 22:20:51 -0700 (PDT)
> > gahn <ipfreak at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > 
> > > hello:
> > > 
> > > trying to understand the email's time stamps. how
> > do i
> > > determine the time stamps on those emails i
> > received?
> > > are those emails time stamped by the mail servers
> > > originated those mails (in that particular time
> > zone)?
> > > or by the last mail relay server (in another time
> > > zone) delivering those mails?
> > > 
> > > say some mails originated from one server is in
> > asia
> > > and final destination mail relay is in europe. so
> > the
> > > time stamps on those mails are in that particular
> > asia
> > > time zone or in the time zone of europe time zone?
> > 
> > Check the headers of the mail in question, in
> > particular 'Received:'. . basically, each mail hop
> > will timestamp the email with its own headers,
> > written in a standard format which includes the
> > timezone. I am not certain whether it's always the
> > local timezone that is added, but it is irrelevant.

[...]

> > 
> > The actual "date sent" seen in your mail client is
> > determined (very blindly) by the Date: header in the
> > mail content, added usually by the senders' mail
> > software

 
> so the information is lost for web mails, right? 

I don't know - see if you have a 'view headers' or 'view source' option in your
favourite webmail client. 

<pedantic hat> the mail isn't a 'web
mail'. there is nothing special about it, other than it's viewed / rendered /
shown in your computer via a webpage. Whether yahoo/gmail/hotmail systems get
rid of (certain) headers when they store the email, i don't know.
</>

> for
> example, on yahoo or gmail, i only see "date", what
> does this "date" indicate? 

As above, is the date header ('Date:' ) added at the time of sending by the
sending party. Trivial to forge ( have you ever received an email , from
spammers or clock-deprived people that was sent in 1980? or 2015 ? :) )


> the date and time the mail
> client sent out the mails or the date and time the
> first mail server received the mails?

The former, assuming it hasn't been tampered with.

B

_________________________
{Beto|Norberto|Numard} Meijome

"Too strong a strong vision can kill you - you'll walk right over the edge,
firm in the knowledge of the path in front of you." Linus Torvalds

I speak for myself, not my employer. Contents may be hot. Slippery when wet.
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