From Dominatrix to Tech Founder: A Unique Battle Against Intimate Image Abuse

BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas is not at all your typical tech founder. After repeated instances of individuals distributing her intimate photographs, she felt "angry enough to do something about it" and looked to tech solutions for answers.

"These were striking images, I'm not ashamed of the photographs, I'm ashamed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I don't know," explained Madelaine.

Just over a year after founding her venture, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to track abusers, has won several awards and was recommended as best practice in an independent pornography review recently.

This marks quite a departure from her background in providing consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the world of kink and bondage.

A Widespread Issue

Intimate image abuse, often referred to as revenge porn, is a criminal offence with perpetrators 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 approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is affected by intimate image abuse each year.

Madelaine, 37, said survivors lived with shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will say, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she noted.

"I demand respect, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, 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 my loved ones and employed to cause them pain, that's unacceptable, that's not a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's someone being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been working as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "It's me as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, offering my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she said.

"People think it's unusual but I don't see it any differently to a personal trainer or an accountant providing a service," she remarked.

She welcomes being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "I know that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a tech company, 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 in the least bit techy and was able to build her company after many late nights, research and "bugging people" who understand tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be implemented on any online platform where people share images, for instance dating apps, social networks and websites.

When an image is viewed 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 copy of the image itself and can withstand screenshots, being altered and being photographed with a different camera.

It means that if you discover your image has been circulated without your consent, providing the service you used has the system integrated, the sharer's information will be encoded in the image and can be retrieved by a forensic expert so action can be taken.

Currently, one platform has implemented her tech and she's in discussions with many others.

Proven Technology, New Application

"This technology is already in use in the film industry, it already exists 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 collaborating with a company that has decades of expertise in tech development so we are confident that this is reliable and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she continued.

She expressed hope she hoped the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential intimate image abusers.

Changing the Narrative

An advocate from a support service commented she had seen directly the trauma and guilt this abuse caused for victims.

"If that self-blame is reinforced by a uninformed acquaintance or professional who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that guilt can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the support a victim receives is that they have committed no error," she emphasized.

She added it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, adding: "It is really important to have this comprehensive strategy towards addressing technology-enabled abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to tackle this alone, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort."

TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when photographs of her in a state of undress were circulated within 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, an excessive amount of time for someone to tell me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," recalled Jess.

She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of intimate image abuse from the victims to the perpetrators. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an image to someone," said Jess.

"But it is a crime to circulate that without consent and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she affirmed.