Author | Lightnews

Tim de Sousa

@timdesousa.bsky.social

190 followers 420 following 410 posts

Privacy, Information Governance and Tech Ethics wonk, based in Sydney Australia. Mediocre ukulele player. Slightly snobbish about coffee.

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · Jun 4

I’m having a day. So let’s not talk about privacy, let’s talk about art.

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 12h

Weekend painting subject identified.

Pat Lillich @quietlynow.bsky.social · 20h

@alan678.bsky.social 's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #LunchTime
this one is kind of traditional - but still a favorite. really love Puffins. #photography #EastCoastKin #Puffin #Birds

a puffin with clown like markings and orange/red rings around its eyes comes back from the sea with a brightly colored beak full of fish.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 1d

Client: Our security is great! We don't need an assessment!
Also client:

Perry Areolar @perryodontal.bsky.social · 3d

the password to the louvre surveillance server was "louvre"

www.thesocialpost.it/2025/11/02/f...

according to the liberation newspaper, documents dating back to a 2014 inspection by the French National Agency for the Security of Computer Systems reported a staggering detail: "the password of the louvre's video surveillance server was simply " louvre. "

Reposted by Tim de Sousa

Stilgherrian @stilgherrian.com · 2d

Australia's social media age restrictions, what's in and what's out, updated today. www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/ind...

Services that eSafety considers will be age-restricted social media platforms
Facebook
Instagram
Kick
Reddit
Snapchat
Threads
TikTok
X (formerly Twitter)
YouTube

Services that eSafety considers will not be age-restricted social media platforms
Discord
GitHub
Google Classroom
LEGO Play
Messenger
Roblox
Steam and Steam Chat
WhatsApp
YouTube Kids

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Reposted by Tim de Sousa

Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 4d

One month out from the under-16s ban and almost all of the users caught up in the Discord data breach caused by age assurance appeals were based in Australia, OAIC has finally confirmed. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Discord age-assurance data breach includes 68,000 Australian users
Almost all of the users of video game chat platform Discord who were caught up in October’s data breach are located in Australia, making up 68,122 of the disclosed 70,000 users, Guardian Australia has confirmed.

Discord informed in October that a third-party customer service provider that the company was using for age verification had been compromised, with approximately 70,000 users affected, and usernames, email, billing information, IP addresses, and a small number of government ID images.

Discord began using facial age assurance to check the age for users in the UK and Australia earlier this year. The company said facial images and ID images “are deleted directly after” ages are confirmed, but Discord’s website noted that if verification fails, users can contact the trust and safety team for a manual review.

Ahead of the introduction of age assurance measures on social media in Australia as part of the under-16s social media ban, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner confirmed 68,122 Australians were affected by the breach.

Discord had previously refused to break down the number of Australians caught up in the breach, when asked by Guardian Australia.

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 5d

What a pack of flamin’ galahs

Reposted by Tim de Sousa

Menotti Minutillo @menotti.bsky.social · 7d

ladies and gentlemen...we got him

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 8d

This is not a model for government decision-making. Or anyone's decision-making.

a woman says computer says no in front of a plant

Alt: a woman says computer says no in front of a plant

media.tenor.com

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 8d

Will affected individuals be provided with the findings of the system? Will they be told what the systems says about them, and why? Probably not - it seems to be a black box.

The purpose of a system is what it does. This is not a system designed for robust and defensible application of laws.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 8d

I hardly needs be said, but 1) Facial recognition is flawed and does not have 100% accuracy 2) It's generally less accurate on POC 3) Any automated decision-making system needs an appeals mechanism, which would inc. referring to relevant evidence (e.g. ID docs). This is nuts.

Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 8d

New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people

www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...

Ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie G. Thompson said in a statement “Mobile Fortify is a dangerous tool in the hands of ICE, and it puts American citizens at risk of detention and even deportation.” He also said “ICE officials have told us that an apparent biometric match by Mobile Fortify is a ‘definitive’ determination of a person’s status and that an ICE officer may ignore evidence of American citizenship—including a birth certificate—if the app says the person is an alien. ICE using a mobile biometrics app in ways its developers at CBP never intended or tested is a frightening, repugnant, and unconstitutional attack on Americans’ rights and freedoms.”

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Reposted by Tim de Sousa

Josh Taylor @joshtaylor.bsky.social · 9d

Kind of an interesting story of the AFP cracking into a crypto wallet from the new commissioner today, after discovering random numbers in the notes app www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/...

During a protracted investigation, the AFP identified a well-connected alleged criminal, who we suspected had stockpiled cryptocurrency from selling a tech-type product to alleged criminals around the world.

The accused criminal is incredibly bright, in his early 30s, but he was certainly no alleged Gucci gangster given he lived a frugal life while living with his mum and dad.

During a search warrant at the alleged offender’s home, our digital forensic team identified password protected notes on his mobile phone.

Our members accessed the notes on his phone and found an image on his device displaying random numbers and words.

The numbers were divided into groups of six and there were more than 50 variations of the number groups.

Our digital forensics team determined it could be related to a crypto wallet – but the accused allegedly refused to hand over his passwords for his crypto wallet, which is a Commonwealth offence that carries a penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

We knew if we couldn’t open the crypto wallet, and if the alleged offender was sentenced, upon release he would leave prison a multi-millionaire – all from the profits of organised crime.

For our members, that was not an acceptable outcome.

So, the task was assigned to one of our unassuming yet incredibly talented data scientists, who kept looking and looking at the number sequences.

He knew something was not right.

And then he had one of those scientific epiphanies.

He realised the alleged offender had tried to create a crypto booby prize in how the numbers were presented.

Our data scientist then removed the first number of each number sequence and then was able to decode the right sequence of numbers into a 24-word recovery seed phrase.

That opened the wallet, which had a whopping $9 million.

“What made you think to remove the first number of each number sequence?” His supervisor asked.

He replied that some of the number strings felt wrong and they looked like they were not computer generated.

He said they looked like a human had modified the sequence by adding numbers to the front of some sequences.

How amazing is that?

And it was not a one-off for this member. He recently did it again with another wallet, using different methodology, recovering more than $3 million in crypto.

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 11d

This is like using a rube goldberg machine to open a door, millions of times a day. The power costs of this must be insane.

Dan of the Year @downwithdan.bsky.social · 12d

Brace for another wave of x refuges

& What's happening: Elon Musk confirmed that X will delete all heuristics from its recommendation system within six weeks. In other words, the familiar logic of likes, replies, and reposts that shaped Twitter for years is about to disappear. In its place, Grok, the platform's in-house Al model, will read and watch more than one hundred million posts
and videos every day to decide what users see. At the same time, X is testing a new interface that keeps users inside the app even when they open external links.

How this hits reality: This marks the first time a major social platform has handed full control of content discovery to an Al model.
Engagement farms, trend-hacking accounts, and traditional growth tactics may soon lose their edge. The new winners will be those who write in ways that Grok interprets as engaging, turning social media optimization into a new form of prompt engineering. This shift could reshape influencer strategies, ad targeting, and even political communication in a matter of weeks.
• Key takeaway: X did not just change its algorithm; it replaced it with an Al reader.
Your reach will soon depend on how fluently you can speak Grok.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

This owl is not mad… he’s just disappointed.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

Really? I am looking forward to the emotional devastation this owl will unleash.

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

That’s all for now, happy Saturday.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

Your one-hour piece is as valid as your ten-hour one. Just do something. And then keep doing it.

A pen and wash of a gawky juvenile magpie

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

Trying and failing is not a waste of time, even though it feels like it when you’re squeezing art in around your day job.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

Practice doesn’t have to be good to be useful. Small and rough is still helpful skill building.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

So what have I learned? Anything? I’m more patient with things being bad before they get good, and making multiple things. Larger pieces take time and planning and have multiple stages.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

October 2025 - behold the most judgmental owl I have even seen (another amazing @mikemelton.bsky.social reference).

Shadows painted in for the judgmental owl

A completed watercolour of the judgmental owl

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

September 2025 - Sunday afternoon life drawing sessions, fun with charcoal pencils

Charcoal sketch of a woman in a standing pose

Pencil sketch of a women in a reclining pose clutching a stuffed bear

Charcoal sketch of a man hanging from a rope

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

August 2025 - simplicity can be effective; Motherhood looks hard.

Pen and wash of a rather put upon bear carrying her cubs through a river.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

June 2025 - Landscapes are hard, but dogs remain good fodder (and are at least enthusiastic about the results).

A watercolour of Fenchurch impressed at the Mudgee countryside.

A pen and wash portrait of Miles the oodle.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

May 2025 - begun, the Birb Wars have. Thanks @mikemelton.bsky.social. Birds are much easier to draw than humans for some reason.

Watercolour of a Firey-Throated Hummingbird

Mixed media - watercolour and pencil - of a snowcap

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Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

April 2025 - crawl, walk, run? No, the lesson is, tracing is a useful tool and there’s not such thing as cheating, only technique.

Tim de Sousa @timdesousa.bsky.social · 13d

But also a good lesson in the importance of making a second attempt. These were done in dip pen with fountain pen ink - which reacts very differently to watercolour. It dries a lot faster but also has a kind of glow.

An ink painting of a nine tailed fox spirit, based on a Shiba Inu.

An ink painting of a mine tailed fox spirit.

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