diff --git a/lib/src/config/app_dependencies.dart b/lib/src/config/app_dependencies.dart
index 2fd2018..7f79b38 100644
--- a/lib/src/config/app_dependencies.dart
+++ b/lib/src/config/app_dependencies.dart
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import 'package:ht_email_inmemory/ht_email_inmemory.dart';
 import 'package:ht_email_repository/ht_email_repository.dart';
 import 'package:ht_shared/ht_shared.dart';
 import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
-import 'package:uuid/uuid.dart';
 
 /// {@template app_dependencies}
 /// A singleton class responsible for initializing and providing all application
@@ -173,7 +172,6 @@ class AppDependencies {
       authTokenService = JwtAuthTokenService(
         userRepository: userRepository,
         blacklistService: tokenBlacklistService,
-        uuidGenerator: const Uuid(),
         log: Logger('JwtAuthTokenService'),
       );
       verificationCodeStorageService = InMemoryVerificationCodeStorageService();
@@ -186,7 +184,6 @@ class AppDependencies {
         emailRepository: emailRepository,
         userAppSettingsRepository: userAppSettingsRepository,
         userContentPreferencesRepository: userContentPreferencesRepository,
-        uuidGenerator: const Uuid(),
         log: Logger('AuthService'),
       );
       dashboardSummaryService = DashboardSummaryService(
diff --git a/lib/src/services/auth_service.dart b/lib/src/services/auth_service.dart
index df98aad..acd4e9d 100644
--- a/lib/src/services/auth_service.dart
+++ b/lib/src/services/auth_service.dart
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import 'package:ht_data_repository/ht_data_repository.dart';
 import 'package:ht_email_repository/ht_email_repository.dart';
 import 'package:ht_shared/ht_shared.dart';
 import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
-import 'package:uuid/uuid.dart';
+import 'package:mongo_dart/mongo_dart.dart';
 
 /// {@template auth_service}
 /// Service responsible for orchestrating authentication logic on the backend.
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ class AuthService {
     required HtDataRepository<UserContentPreferences>
     userContentPreferencesRepository,
     required PermissionService permissionService,
-    required Uuid uuidGenerator,
     required Logger log,
   }) : _userRepository = userRepository,
        _authTokenService = authTokenService,
@@ -34,7 +33,6 @@ class AuthService {
        _emailRepository = emailRepository,
        _userAppSettingsRepository = userAppSettingsRepository,
        _userContentPreferencesRepository = userContentPreferencesRepository,
-       _uuid = uuidGenerator,
        _log = log;
 
   final HtDataRepository<User> _userRepository;
@@ -46,7 +44,6 @@ class AuthService {
   _userContentPreferencesRepository;
   final PermissionService _permissionService;
   final Logger _log;
-  final Uuid _uuid;
 
   /// Initiates the email sign-in process.
   ///
@@ -212,7 +209,7 @@ class AuthService {
         // All new users created via the public API get the standard role.
         // Admin users must be provisioned out-of-band (e.g., via fixtures).
         user = User(
-          id: _uuid.v4(),
+          id: ObjectId().oid,
           email: email,
           appRole: AppUserRole.standardUser,
           dashboardRole: DashboardUserRole.none,
@@ -268,11 +265,12 @@ class AuthService {
     // 1. Create anonymous user
     User user;
     try {
+      final newId = ObjectId().oid;
       user = User(
-        id: _uuid.v4(),
+        id: newId,
         // Use a unique placeholder email for anonymous users to satisfy the
         // non-nullable email constraint.
-        email: '${_uuid.v4()}@anonymous.com',
+        email: '$newId@anonymous.com',
         appRole: AppUserRole.guestUser,
         dashboardRole: DashboardUserRole.none,
         createdAt: DateTime.now(),
diff --git a/lib/src/services/jwt_auth_token_service.dart b/lib/src/services/jwt_auth_token_service.dart
index 5f7774f..4aaa86a 100644
--- a/lib/src/services/jwt_auth_token_service.dart
+++ b/lib/src/services/jwt_auth_token_service.dart
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import 'package:ht_api/src/services/token_blacklist_service.dart';
 import 'package:ht_data_repository/ht_data_repository.dart';
 import 'package:ht_shared/ht_shared.dart';
 import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
-import 'package:uuid/uuid.dart';
+import 'package:mongo_dart/mongo_dart.dart';
 
 /// {@template jwt_auth_token_service}
 /// An implementation of [AuthTokenService] using JSON Web Tokens (JWT).
@@ -19,20 +19,16 @@ class JwtAuthTokenService implements AuthTokenService {
   /// - [userRepository]: To fetch user details after validating the token's
   ///   subject claim.
   /// - [blacklistService]: To manage the blacklist of invalidated tokens.
-  /// - [uuidGenerator]: For creating unique JWT IDs (jti).
   const JwtAuthTokenService({
     required HtDataRepository<User> userRepository,
     required TokenBlacklistService blacklistService,
-    required Uuid uuidGenerator,
     required Logger log,
   }) : _userRepository = userRepository,
        _blacklistService = blacklistService,
-       _uuid = uuidGenerator,
        _log = log;
 
   final HtDataRepository<User> _userRepository;
   final TokenBlacklistService _blacklistService;
-  final Uuid _uuid;
   final Logger _log;
 
   // --- Configuration ---
@@ -61,7 +57,7 @@ class JwtAuthTokenService implements AuthTokenService {
           'exp': expiry.millisecondsSinceEpoch ~/ 1000, // Expiration Time
           'iat': now.millisecondsSinceEpoch ~/ 1000, // Issued At
           'iss': _issuer, // Issuer
-          'jti': _uuid.v4(), // JWT ID (for potential blacklisting)
+          'jti': ObjectId().oid, // JWT ID (for potential blacklisting)
           // Custom claims (optional, include what's useful)
           'email': user.email, // Kept for convenience
           // Embed the new enum-based roles. Use .name for string value.
@@ -70,7 +66,7 @@ class JwtAuthTokenService implements AuthTokenService {
         },
         issuer: _issuer,
         subject: user.id,
-        jwtId: _uuid.v4(), // Re-setting jti here for clarity if needed
+        jwtId: ObjectId().oid, // Re-setting jti here for clarity if needed
       );
 
       // Sign the token using HMAC-SHA256
diff --git a/pubspec.yaml b/pubspec.yaml
index 96e31e9..b4fe4dd 100644
--- a/pubspec.yaml
+++ b/pubspec.yaml
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ dependencies:
   meta: ^1.16.0
   mongo_dart: ^0.10.5
   shelf_cors_headers: ^0.1.5
-  uuid: ^4.5.1
 
 dev_dependencies:
   mocktail: ^1.0.3
diff --git a/routes/_middleware.dart b/routes/_middleware.dart
index d93bd9d..3984ed0 100644
--- a/routes/_middleware.dart
+++ b/routes/_middleware.dart
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import 'package:ht_data_repository/ht_data_repository.dart';
 import 'package:ht_email_repository/ht_email_repository.dart';
 import 'package:ht_shared/ht_shared.dart';
 import 'package:logging/logging.dart';
-import 'package:uuid/uuid.dart';
+import 'package:mongo_dart/mongo_dart.dart';
 
 // --- Middleware Definition ---
 final _log = Logger('RootMiddleware');
@@ -55,8 +55,7 @@ Handler middleware(Handler handler) {
           _log.info(
             '[REQ_LIFECYCLE] Request received. Generating RequestId...',
           );
-          final uuid = context.read<Uuid>();
-          final requestId = RequestId(uuid.v4());
+          final requestId = RequestId(ObjectId().oid);
           _log.info('[REQ_LIFECYCLE] RequestId generated: ${requestId.id}');
           return innerHandler(context.provide<RequestId>(() => requestId));
         };
@@ -76,7 +75,6 @@ Handler middleware(Handler handler) {
           final deps = AppDependencies.instance;
           return handler
               .use(provider<ModelRegistryMap>((_) => modelRegistry))
-              .use(provider<Uuid>((_) => const Uuid()))
               .use(
                 provider<HtDataRepository<Headline>>(
                   (_) => deps.headlineRepository,
diff --git a/routes/api/v1/data/[id]/index.dart b/routes/api/v1/data/[id]/index.dart
index 11b90dc..b390ebe 100644
--- a/routes/api/v1/data/[id]/index.dart
+++ b/routes/api/v1/data/[id]/index.dart
@@ -185,6 +185,9 @@ Future<Response> _handlePut(
     throw const BadRequestException('Missing or invalid request body.');
   }
 
+  // Standardize timestamp before model creation
+  requestBody['updatedAt'] = DateTime.now().toUtc().toIso8601String();
+
   // Deserialize using ModelConfig's fromJson, catching TypeErrors locally
   dynamic itemToUpdate;
   try {
diff --git a/routes/api/v1/data/index.dart b/routes/api/v1/data/index.dart
index eef39d3..6a5fd42 100644
--- a/routes/api/v1/data/index.dart
+++ b/routes/api/v1/data/index.dart
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import 'package:ht_api/src/rbac/permission_service.dart';
 import 'package:ht_api/src/registry/model_registry.dart';
 import 'package:ht_data_repository/ht_data_repository.dart';
 import 'package:ht_shared/ht_shared.dart';
+import 'package:mongo_dart/mongo_dart.dart';
 
 /// Handles requests for the /api/v1/data collection endpoint.
 /// Dispatches requests to specific handlers based on the HTTP method.
@@ -152,6 +153,12 @@ Future<Response> _handlePost(RequestContext context) async {
     throw const BadRequestException('Missing or invalid request body.');
   }
 
+  // Standardize ID and timestamps before model creation
+  final now = DateTime.now().toUtc().toIso8601String();
+  requestBody['id'] = ObjectId().oid;
+  requestBody['createdAt'] = now;
+  requestBody['updatedAt'] = now;
+
   dynamic itemToCreate;
   try {
     itemToCreate = modelConfig.fromJson(requestBody);