From Dominatrix to Technology Entrepreneur: A Unique Battle To Combat Intimate Image Abuse

BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas embodies not at all your typical tech founder. Following repeated occurrences of individuals leaking her intimate photographs, she was "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and turned to technology for a solution.

"These were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm ashamed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," explained Madelaine.

Little over a year since launching her company, Image Angel, which employs invisible forensic watermarking to track perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was recommended as best practice in an independent pornography review earlier this year.

This represents a significant shift from her background in providing BDSM services, dominating clients in the realms of BDSM.

The Pervasive Problem

Intimate image abuse, often referred to as revenge porn, is a criminal offence with offenders facing up to two years in prison.

It is far from an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A report suggests that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is affected by intimate image abuse each year.

Madelaine, 37, explained victims endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a private image out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted.

"I expect dignity, I expect respect, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are up for debate," she added. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed in my community or with my loved ones and employed to cause them pain, that's unacceptable, that's not my choice, that's not my mistake, that's an individual committing abuse."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been working as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for a decade and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is confident and powerful, offering my body as a treat to someone of my own volition," she described.

"Some believe it's unusual but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an financial advisor providing a service," she remarked.

She embraces being a unique figure 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 founder of a technology firm, but it required someone who has been through it to understand the loopholes and the changes that were necessary," she explained.

She maintained she was not in the least bit techy and was managed to build her company after a lot of late nights, investigation and "consulting experts" who know about tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be implemented on any online platform where people exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social networks and websites.

When an image is accessed by a user, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is specific to that viewer.

This invisible watermark is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can withstand screen shots, being altered and being re-captured with a secondary device.

It means that if you discover your image has been shared non-consensually, as long as the platform you posted it on has the technology embedded, the viewer's details will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a forensic expert so action can be taken.

To date, one service has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with several more.

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"This technology already exists in Hollywood, 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.

"We have validated it, we're partnering with a firm that has decades of expertise in developing technology so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she added.

She said she hoped 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 said she had seen first-hand the panic, distress and self-blame intimate image abuse caused for victims.

"If that self-blame is reinforced by a misinformed friend or professional who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's really important that the support somebody is provided with is that they have not done anything wrong," she emphasized.

She noted 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 abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to solve this problem, not just support services, it needs to be this multi-layered response."

TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when photographs of her in her underwear were shared around her town. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her youth that would later shape her women's rights campaigning.

"It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," recalled Jess.

She too is passionate about removing the stigma of this crime from the victims to the offenders. "There is no offence to willingly share an photo to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to distribute that without consent and I think that should always be where the responsibility is," she concluded.