diff --git a/lib/SimpleSAML/Utilities.php b/lib/SimpleSAML/Utilities.php
index 41cbbb2b41f7556805aa27a1d08fc4dcaeaa1dce..5d6aac31baf42953f2e692c32ce9fcdbde3f6f45 100644
--- a/lib/SimpleSAML/Utilities.php
+++ b/lib/SimpleSAML/Utilities.php
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@ class SimpleSAML_Utilities {
 	}
 	
 	public static function generateID() {
-	
 		$length = 42;
 		$key = "_";
 		for ( $i=0; $i < $length; $i++ )
@@ -165,6 +164,10 @@ class SimpleSAML_Utilities {
 		return $key;
 	}
 	
+	public static function generateTimestamp() {
+		return gmdate("Y-m-d\TH:i:s\Z");
+	}
+	
 	public static function generateTrackID() {		
 		$uniqueid = substr(md5(uniqid(rand(), true)), 0, 10);
 		return $uniqueid;