How should timestamp uncertainty be reported?¶

Preserve the original value and explain its source clock, zone, precision and event stage wherever timing affects sequence, attribution or outcome. Displayed digits do not guarantee equivalent real-world accuracy.

Name the source of uncertainty¶

Clock error, daylight-saving conversion, buffering, ingestion delay and unclear field meaning create different limits. State whether the value marks creation, receipt, processing or completion and document every conversion.

Apply an offset only across the period supported by evidence; drift can make a single correction unsafe.

Match language to the available resolution¶

Use “recorded as 14:05:12 UTC”, “approximately 14:05” or “within the same recorded second” as appropriate. Preserve two valid local interpretations across a repeated daylight-saving hour and say when order cannot be resolved.

Explain whether the uncertainty changes the substantive conclusion or merely presentation. A material limit belongs in the analysis, not only a footnote.