🔗 Share this article Transitioning from Professional Dominatrix to Tech Founder: A Unique Campaign To Combat Revenge Porn Madelaine Thomas states her first-hand ordeal of having her intimate images shared without consent gives her a unique insight as a tech founder. BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas is not at all your standard startup entrepreneur. Following repeated occurrences of individuals leaking her private explicit images, she felt "angry enough to do something about it" and looked to tech solutions for answers. "These were beautiful pictures, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I don't know," explained Madelaine. Madelaine has received several awards such as the Innovation in Tech Safety award at a prominent industry conference. Just over a year since founding her company, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to identify abusers, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an government-commissioned study earlier this year. This represents quite a departure from her background in providing consensual sexual encounters, working with clients in the world of kink and bondage. A Widespread Issue The non-consensual sharing of private images, often referred to as image-based abuse, is a criminal offence with perpetrators facing up to two years in prison. It is far from an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A report indicates that around 1.42% of the UK female population is impacted by intimate image abuse on an annual basis. Madelaine, 37, said survivors lived with feelings of humiliation. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you put a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she said. "I expect dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be then shared where I live or with my loved ones and used to hurt them, that's beyond, that's not my choice, that's not an error on my part, that's an individual committing abuse." Madelaine hopes her tech will prevent would-be intimate image abusers without consent. A Unique Journey Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for a decade and consistently found her work liberating and satisfying. "It's me as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a treat to someone of my own volition," she said. "Some believe it's unusual but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an accountant providing a service," she added. She embraces being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I know that it's unconventional, it's remarkable to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, but it took someone who has been through it to know the flaws and the modifications that were necessary," she explained. She insisted she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after a lot of late nights, research and "bugging people" who know about tech. How Does the Technology Work? Image Angel can be used by any digital service where people share images, for instance dating apps, social networks and online sites. When an image is accessed by a viewer, it is automatically embedded with an undetectable digital marker which is unique to them. This covert marker is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can survive screenshots, being altered and being re-captured with a different camera. It means that if you discover your image has been shared non-consensually, providing the service you posted it on has the system integrated, the viewer's details will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a forensic expert so action can be taken. Currently, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in talks with several more. Proven Technology, New Application "This technology is already in use in Hollywood, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a novel use and a new system," said Madelaine. "And we've tested it, we're partnering with a company that has 30 years experience in developing technology so we know that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she continued. She expressed hope she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential perpetrators. Changing the Narrative An advocate from a leading helpline said 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 deepened so it's crucial that the support somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she stated. She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, saying: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling tech facilitated abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to tackle this alone, not just support services, it needs to be this integrated effort." Madelaine Thomas and TV presenter Jess Davies have been victims of experiencing their intimate images shared without their consent. TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in her underwear were shared around her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess endured in her teens and 20s 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 was wrong'," said Jess. She too is dedicated to eliminating the shame of intimate image abuse from the survivors to the offenders. "There is no offence to consensually send 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 affirmed.