🔗 Share this article From BDSM Practitioner to Tech Founder: An Unconventional Battle Against Intimate Image Abuse Madelaine Thomas states her personal experience of having her private photos shared without consent offers her a unique insight as a tech founder. Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas is far from your typical tech founder. Following multiple occurrences of individuals leaking her intimate photographs, she felt "angry enough to take action" and looked to technology for answers. "These were striking images, I'm not ashamed of the photographs, I'm ashamed of the manner that they were weaponized by someone who I don't know," explained Madelaine. Madelaine has received several awards such as the Tech Safety Innovation award at a prominent industry conference. Little over a year since launching her venture, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to identify abusers, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an independent pornography review earlier this year. This marks a significant shift from her previous career in providing BDSM services, working with clients in the world of BDSM. The Pervasive Problem The non-consensual sharing of private images, often referred to as revenge porn, is a criminal offence with offenders risking two years in prison. It is far from an issue uniquely experienced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A report suggests that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is affected by intimate image abuse each year. Madelaine, 37, said victims lived with shame and stigma. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a private image out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she said. "I expect dignity, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she added. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with people I love and used to hurt them, that's beyond, that's not a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's someone committing abuse." Madelaine hopes her technology will deter potential individuals from sharing photos non-consensually. An Unconventional Path Madelaine has been practicing as a dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "It's me as a woman in control, a woman who is empowered and strong, offering my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she said. "Some believe it's strange but I don't see it any differently to a personal trainer or an accountant providing a service," she remarked. She embraces being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I know that it's unconventional, it's remarkable to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a tech company, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the flaws and the changes that needed to happen," she stated. She insisted she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after many late nights, research and "consulting experts" who understand tech. Understanding the Tech Solution Image Angel can be used by any digital service where people exchange photos, for instance dating apps, social networks and websites. When an image is viewed by a user, it is automatically embedded with an invisible forensic watermark which is specific to that viewer. This covert marker is encoded within the copy of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being edited and being photographed with a different camera. It ensures that if you discover your image has been shared without your consent, as long as the service you used has the system integrated, the viewer's details will be hidden within the image and can be extracted by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow. To date, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with many others. An Established Method for a New Purpose "This technology is already in use in the film industry, it already exists in live television so this is not an untested concept, it's just a new application and a different framework," explained Madelaine. "And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a company that has 30 years experience in tech development so we know that this is reliable and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she added. She said she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential perpetrators. Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame An advocate from a leading helpline commented she had seen first-hand the trauma and guilt this abuse inflicted on victims. "If that self-blame is compounded by a uninformed acquaintance or service who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the response somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she emphasized. She noted it was inspiring that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal to bring about change, adding: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling tech facilitated gender-based abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to tackle this alone, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort." Both women have been victims of having their intimate images distributed non-consensually. TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when photographs of her in a state of undress were shared around her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her teens and 20s that would later inform her women's rights campaigning. "It took so long, too long for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," recalled Jess. She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of this crime from the victims to the offenders. "There is no offence to consensually send an image to someone," stated Jess. "However, it is illegal to circulate that without consent and I think that should always be where the blame is," she concluded.