🔗 Share this article From Professional Dominatrix to Technology Entrepreneur: A Unique Battle Against Revenge Porn Madelaine Thomas explains her personal experience of experiencing her private photos shared without consent provides her a distinct perspective as a tech founder. Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents far from your typical tech founder. Following multiple instances of clients distributing her private explicit images, she was "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and looked to tech solutions for a solution. "These were beautiful pictures, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm embarrassed of the manner that they were used against me by an individual who I have never met," stated Madelaine. Madelaine has won multiple accolades including the Tech Safety Innovation award at a prominent industry conference. Just over a year after founding her company, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to identify perpetrators, has won several awards and was recommended as exemplary procedure in an independent pornography review earlier this year. This marks quite a departure from her previous career in offering consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the realms 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 offenders risking two years in prison. It is far from an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A study suggests that around 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by intimate image abuse on an annual basis. Madelaine, thirty-seven, explained victims endured shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a private image out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she said. "I demand respect, I expect respect, and I expect trust, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she continued. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with people I love and employed to cause them pain, that's unacceptable, that's not a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's an individual being an abuser." Madelaine aims her tech will deter potential individuals from sharing photos without consent. A Unique Journey Madelaine has been working as a professional dominatrix, primarily 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, offering my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she described. "People think it's unusual but I don't see it any differently to a nutritionist or an accountant providing a service," she added. She embraces being a unique figure in the technology sector. "I know that it's bizarre, it's crazy to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a technology firm, but it took someone who has been through it to know the flaws and the modifications that were necessary," she stated. She maintained she was not technically inclined and was able 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 exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social networks and websites. When an image is accessed by a viewer, it is automatically embedded with an undetectable digital marker which is specific to that viewer. This covert marker is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can withstand screen shots, being altered and being photographed with a secondary device. It means that if you find out your image has been shared without your consent, providing the service you posted it on has the technology embedded, the viewer's details will be encoded in the image and can be retrieved by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow. Currently, one service has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with several more. An Established Method for a New Purpose "This technology is already in use in Hollywood, it already exists in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," explained Madelaine. "And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a company that has 30 years experience in developing technology so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she added. She expressed hope she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential intimate image abusers. Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame An expert from a leading helpline said she had seen directly the trauma and guilt this abuse inflicted on victims. "If that self-blame is reinforced by a uninformed acquaintance or professional who says 'what did you expect?' that self blame can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the support somebody is provided with is that they have not done anything wrong," she stated. She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, adding: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards addressing 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 multi-layered response." Both women have been victims of having their intimate images shared without their consent. TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in a state of undress were shared around her local community. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her teens and 20s that would later shape her advocacy work. "It took so long, too long for someone to say to me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," said Jess. She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of this crime from the victims to the offenders. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an image to someone," stated Jess. "But it is a crime to circulate that without consent and I think that should always be where the blame is," she concluded.