diff --git a/database.py b/database.py
index 221257e..5670703 100644
--- a/database.py
+++ b/database.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from datetime import datetime
+from datetime import datetime, timezone
 
 from peewee import *
 
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ class Config(BaseModel):
     id = BigAutoField()
     key = CharField(unique=True)
     value = TextField()
-    created_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)
-    updated_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)
+    created_at = DateTimeField(default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc))
+    updated_at = DateTimeField(default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc))
 
     # define table name
     class Meta:
@@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ class Announce(BaseModel):
     identity_public_key = CharField()  # base64 encoded public key, incase we want to recreate the identity manually
     app_data = TextField(null=True)  # base64 encoded app data bytes
 
-    created_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)
-    updated_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)
+    created_at = DateTimeField(default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc))
+    updated_at = DateTimeField(default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc))
 
     # define table name
     class Meta:
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ class LxmfMessage(BaseModel):
     content = TextField()
     fields = TextField()  # json string
     timestamp = FloatField()  # timestamp of when the message was originally created (before ever being sent)
-    created_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)
-    updated_at = DateTimeField(default=datetime.now)
+    created_at = DateTimeField(default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc))
+    updated_at = DateTimeField(default=lambda: datetime.now(timezone.utc))
 
     # define table name
     class Meta:
diff --git a/web.py b/web.py
index feac40c..475d004 100644
--- a/web.py
+++ b/web.py
@@ -594,7 +594,7 @@ class ReticulumWebChat:
             "content": lxmf_message_dict["content"],
             "fields": json.dumps(lxmf_message_dict["fields"]),
             "timestamp": lxmf_message_dict["timestamp"],
-            "updated_at": datetime.now(),
+            "updated_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc),
         }
 
         # upsert to database
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ class ReticulumWebChat:
             "identity_hash": identity.hash.hex(),
             "identity_public_key": base64.b64encode(identity.get_public_key()).decode("utf-8"),
             "app_data": parsed_app_data,
-            "updated_at": datetime.now(),
+            "updated_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc),
         }
 
         # upsert to database
@@ -768,7 +768,7 @@ class Config:
         data = {
             "key": key,
             "value": value,
-            "updated_at": datetime.now(),
+            "updated_at": datetime.now(timezone.utc),
         }
 
         # upsert to database