🔗 Share this article From BDSM Practitioner to Tech Founder: A Unique Battle To Combat Revenge Porn Madelaine Thomas says her personal experience of experiencing her intimate images shared without consent provides her a unique insight as a tech founder. Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas is not at all your average startup entrepreneur. Following multiple instances of individuals leaking her private explicit images, she was "angry enough to do something about it" and looked to technology for a solution. "These were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm embarrassed of the manner that they were used against me by someone who I don't know," said Madelaine. Madelaine has won multiple accolades including the Tech Safety Innovation award at a prominent industry conference. Just over a year since founding her venture, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to track perpetrators, has won several awards and was recommended as exemplary procedure in an independent pornography review earlier this year. This represents a significant shift from her background in providing BDSM services, working with clients in the realms of kink and bondage. A Widespread Issue The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as revenge porn, is a criminal offence with offenders risking two years in prison. It is not at all an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study indicates that around 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by this form of abuse each year. Madelaine, 37, explained survivors endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted. "I expect dignity, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she added. "The fact that those images could be then shared where I live or with people I love and employed to cause them pain, that's unacceptable, that's not my choice, that's not my mistake, that's someone being an abuser." Madelaine aims her tech will deter potential individuals from sharing photos without consent. An Unconventional Path Madelaine has been working as a dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a treat to someone of my own volition," she described. "People think it's strange but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an accountant giving advice," she remarked. She welcomes being a unique figure in the world of tech. "I know that it's bizarre, it's remarkable to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to know the loopholes and the changes that needed to happen," she explained. She insisted she was not in the least bit techy and was managed to build her company after a lot of sleepless nights, investigation and "bugging people" who understand tech. Understanding the Tech Solution Image Angel can be implemented on any digital service where people exchange photos, for instance dating apps, social networks and online sites. When an image is accessed by a user, it is automatically embedded with an invisible forensic watermark which is specific to that viewer. This invisible watermark is encoded within the copy of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being edited and being re-captured with a secondary device. It ensures that if you find out your image has been circulated without your consent, providing the platform you posted it on has the system integrated, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be extracted by a data recovery specialist so legal steps can follow. Currently, one platform has implemented her tech and she's in talks with many others. An Established Method for a New Purpose "The system is already in use in the film industry, it already exists in sports broadcasting so this is not an untested concept, it's just a novel use and a different framework," said Madelaine. "We have validated it, we're partnering with a firm that has decades of expertise in tech development so we are confident 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 preventive measure to would-be intimate image abusers. Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame An expert from a leading helpline commented she had seen first-hand the panic, distress and self-blame intimate image abuse inflicted on victims. "When that guilt is reinforced by a misinformed friend or professional who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that self blame can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the response somebody is provided with is that they have not done anything wrong," she emphasized. She noted it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, adding: "It is really important to have this comprehensive strategy towards addressing tech facilitated abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to tackle this alone, no one helpline, it needs to be this multi-layered response." Both women have experienced 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 endured in her youth that would later inform her women's rights campaigning. "It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," said 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 photo to someone," stated Jess. "However, it is illegal to circulate that non-consensually and I think that should always be where the responsibility is," she affirmed.