Use TimeProvider instead of DateTimeOffset in DataProtectionAPI

[MichaelRomer]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe the problem.

I am trying to integration test my application which uses the DataProtectionAPI to encrypt user session data. My tests should also cover some time-related aspects. Therefore I am using the TimeProvider and FakeTimeProvider which where introduced with Dotnet8. Unfortunately, the DataProtectionAPI still uses the static DateTimeOffset instead of the new TimeProvider and therefore does not react to time changes in my tests.

Describe the solution you'd like

Replace the DateTimeOffset class with the TimeProvider to determine the current time in the DataProtectionAPI implementation

Additional context

No response

[amcasey]

I remember this being a friction point when I was validating data protection using a simulator. I ended up giving myself a test hook. I think I decided against TimeProvider because it would have required a nuget package reference, but we could probably revisit that.

[MichaelRomer]

I really appreciate that you are considering to use the TimeProvider.

The additional NuGet package would be required for using the FakeTimeProvider, right?. From a users perspective it would be a huge benefit if the time could be mocked while the additional NuGet dependency project will be probably not even noticed.