Most recent activity accuracy

[5R]

How accurate is the times listed under the 'most recent activity'? Under "Web Browsers", when I hover the mouse on top of the info sign, next to each session's time, it gives a signed-in time many days earlier. For instance, when I hover the mouse on the info sign next to the "current session", it says "signed in yesterday", whereas another session supposedly on "January 17", seems to be "Singed in: January 10". 
I wonder, if the browser listing activity is not accurate, how could one trust the time listed under the Devices activity, considering the fact that this is already marked approximately e.g. "about 2 weeks ago". 

[Nancy]

Thanks for posting here, @5R!

Just to make sure we’re on the same page, are you seeing an inaccurate sign-in/activity log for both your web sessions and your desktop/mobile apps? Or do you notice this behavior only regarding your web browsers?

Let me know, and we’ll take it from there.

[5R]

Both actually. It seems that the "most current activity" gives only a rough idea of what's been happening and times aren't as accurate as posted. 

[Megan]

Hi @5R, could you send me a screenshot demonstrating what you mentioned?

I'd like to have a visual of how your Security page looks too. Just make sure none of your personal info is visible there. 

[5R]

Here is what I get. 
Thanks! 

[Walter]

Hey @5R, sorry to jump in here, but I just wanted to mention that, based on your screenshot, it looks like the initial sign in on that web session was on the 9th of November, 2021 while the most recent activity on that web session was the 16th of November 2021. Does this not seem right to you? 

Let me know if I'm missing something as I couldn't quite distinguish the dates shown in your screenshot. 

[5R]

Exactly, and I'm puzzled with that. If the most recent activity column lists e.g. the middle of the month how can the same session have started a week ago and remain active for a whole week? How can that be? The session was surely idle at some point in the meantime.  And why isn't the date that session started not listed in that column then? That should have been the most recent activity at the time.
On the other hand there are other sessions from different browsers which don't show that time stretch, even though they have been handled in the same way.  
I believe that the most current activity is only a rough estimate and cannot be reliably taken into account. 

[Jay · Accepted solution]

Hi @5R, have you signed out of your Dropbox account each time you finish working on the site, or do you leave it logged in permanently? 

Closing your browser entirely and rebooting doesn't end the session, as the cookie to login is still active. On my personal machine, my most recent activity shows my current session, and it was last signed in 5 months ago, meaning I never logged off the site since then.

[Rich]

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@5R wrote:

If the most recent activity column lists e.g. the middle of the month how can the same session have started a week ago and remain active for a whole week? How can that be?

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Because that session was first signed-in in the middle of the month, and you never signed out. You may have closed the browser but if you signed in with the Remember Me option checked, then that session will remain active in the browser until you sign out. It's all the same session from the time you sign in to the time you sign out. It you sign in without using the Remember Me option, then you're signed out when you completely close the browser.

On this computer that I'm using I first signed in to Dropbox last April. I checked the Remember Me option when signing in and I haven't signed out. Anytime I access dropbox.com in this browser I'm automatically signed in. This is what it shows for my recent activity ...

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I believe that the most current activity is only a rough estimate and cannot be reliably taken into account. 

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In my experience it's been very accurate.