🔗 Share this article Transitioning from Professional Dominatrix to Tech Founder: A Unique Fight To Combat Intimate Image Abuse Madelaine Thomas states her personal experience of having her private photos leaked provides her a distinct perspective as a tech founder. BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas is not at all your typical tech founder. After multiple instances of clients leaking her intimate photographs, she was "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and looked to technology for a solution. "These were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the manner that they were used against me by someone who I don't know," explained Madelaine. Madelaine has received multiple accolades such as the Tech Safety Innovation award at a prominent safety summit. Little over a year since founding her venture, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to identify perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as exemplary procedure in an independent pornography review earlier this year. This marks quite a departure from her background in offering consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the realms of BDSM. A Widespread Issue The non-consensual sharing of private images, often referred to as revenge porn, is a criminal offence with perpetrators risking two years in prison. It is not at all an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A study indicates that around 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by intimate image abuse each year. Madelaine, 37, explained victims lived with shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you put a private image out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she noted. "I expect dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be subsequently distributed in my community or with my loved ones and employed to cause them pain, that's beyond, that's not my choice, that's not an error on my part, that's someone being an abuser." Madelaine aims her technology will prevent would-be individuals from sharing photos non-consensually. An Unconventional Path Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she described. "Some believe it's unusual but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an financial advisor giving advice," she remarked. She welcomes being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I know that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a tech company, but it required someone who has been through it to know the loopholes and the changes that needed to happen," she explained. She maintained she was not technically inclined and was able to build her company after many sleepless nights, research and "bugging people" who know about tech. Understanding the Tech Solution Image Angel can be used by any online platform where people exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social media and online sites. When an image is accessed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an undetectable digital marker which is specific to that viewer. This covert marker is embedded into the copy of the image itself and can survive screenshots, being edited and being re-captured with a different camera. It means that if you find out your image has been circulated without your consent, as long as the service you used has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a data recovery specialist so action can be taken. To date, one service has implemented her tech and she's in discussions with many others. Proven Technology, New Application "The system already exists in the film industry, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," explained Madelaine. "We have validated it, we're partnering with a company that has decades of expertise in tech development so we know that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she added. She expressed hope she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent to would-be intimate image abusers. Changing the Narrative An advocate from a leading helpline said she had seen first-hand the panic, distress and self-blame this abuse caused for victims. "When that guilt is compounded by a misinformed friend or professional who says 'what did you expect?' that self blame can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the response a victim receives is that they have not done anything wrong," she stated. She noted it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, saying: "It is vital to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling tech facilitated abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to solve this problem, no one helpline, it needs to be this multi-layered response." Both women have experienced experiencing their private photos distributed non-consensually. TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when photographs of her in a state of undress were shared around her local community. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess endured in her teens and 20s that would later inform her advocacy work. "It took so long, an excessive amount of time for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that was wrong'," recalled Jess. She too is dedicated to removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the victims to the offenders. "There is no offence to willingly share an image to someone," stated Jess. "But it is a crime to distribute that without consent and I think that should always be where the responsibility is," she concluded.