🔗 Share this article From Dominatrix to Tech Founder: An Unconventional Battle Against Revenge Porn Madelaine Thomas states her personal experience of experiencing her private photos shared without consent gives her a unique insight as a technology entrepreneur. BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas is not at all your average startup entrepreneur. After repeated occurrences of clients distributing her intimate photographs, she felt "sufficiently outraged to take action" and looked to technology for answers. "These were beautiful pictures, I'm not ashamed of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I don't know," stated Madelaine. Madelaine has won several awards including the Innovation in Tech Safety award at a prominent industry conference. Little over a year since founding her venture, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to identify perpetrators, has won several awards and was recommended as best practice in an government-commissioned study earlier this year. This represents quite a departure from her background in offering BDSM services, dominating clients in the world of kink and bondage. The Pervasive Problem The non-consensual sharing of private images, often referred to as revenge porn, is a punishable crime with offenders 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 affected by this form of abuse on an annual basis. Madelaine, 37, said 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 anticipate?'," she noted. "I expect respect, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are up for debate," she continued. "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 a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's an individual being an abuser." Madelaine aims her tech will deter would-be intimate image abusers non-consensually. A Unique Journey Madelaine has been working as a dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years 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 nutritionist or an accountant providing a service," she remarked. She welcomes being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I understand that it's bizarre, it's remarkable to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a technology firm, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the flaws and the changes that were necessary," she stated. She insisted she was not in the least bit techy and was managed to build her company after many late nights, research and "consulting experts" who understand tech. Understanding the Tech Solution Image Angel can be used by any online platform where people share images, for instance dating apps, social networks and websites. When an image is viewed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is unique to them. This invisible watermark is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being altered and being photographed with a different camera. It ensures that if you discover your image has been circulated without your consent, providing the service you posted it on has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be encoded in the image and can be extracted by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow. To date, one platform has implemented her tech and she's in talks with several more. Proven Technology, New Application "The system is already in use in Hollywood, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not an untested concept, it's just a novel use and a new system," explained Madelaine. "And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a firm that has 30 years experience in tech development 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 preventive measure to would-be intimate image abusers. Changing the Narrative An advocate from a leading helpline commented she had seen directly the panic, distress and self-blame this abuse inflicted on victims. "When that guilt is compounded by a uninformed acquaintance or professional who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's really important that the response a victim receives is that they have committed no error," she emphasized. She noted it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, saying: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling technology-enabled abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to solve this problem, not just support services, it needs to be this integrated effort." Both women have experienced having their private photos shared non-consensually. TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when photographs of her in her underwear were circulated within her local community. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her teens and 20s that would later shape her women's rights campaigning. "It required years, too long for someone to say to me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," said Jess. She too is dedicated to eliminating the shame of this crime from the victims to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to willingly share an photo to someone," stated Jess. "But it is a crime to distribute that without consent and I think that should invariably be where the responsibility is," she concluded.