🔗 Share this article

Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents far from your standard tech founder. After repeated instances of individuals leaking her intimate photographs, she was "angry enough to do something about it" and turned to tech solutions for a solution.

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

Little over a year after founding her venture, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to track abusers, has won several awards and was cited as best practice in an government-commissioned study recently.

This marks a significant shift from her background in offering BDSM services, dominating clients in the world of BDSM.

The Pervasive Problem

The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as image-based abuse, is a punishable crime with offenders risking two years in prison.

It is far from an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study indicates that approximately 1.42% of the UK female population is impacted by this form of abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, thirty-seven, said survivors endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will say, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she said.

"I expect respect, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I fail to understand why those are up for debate," she continued. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed in my community or with people I love and employed to cause them pain, that's beyond, that's not my choice, that's not my mistake, that's an individual being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, offering my body as a treat to someone of my own volition," she said.

"Some believe it's strange but I don't see it any differently to a personal trainer or an accountant giving advice," she added.

She welcomes being a unique figure in the world of tech. "I understand that it's bizarre, it's crazy to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, but it required someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the flaws and the modifications 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 "bugging people" who understand tech.

Understanding the Tech Solution

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 viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an undetectable digital marker which is specific to that viewer.

This covert marker is embedded into 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 circulated non-consensually, as long as the service you posted it on has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be extracted by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow.

Currently, one platform has implemented her tech and she's in talks with several more.

Proven Technology, New Application

"This technology is already in use in Hollywood, it already exists in live television so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," explained Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're partnering with a company that has 30 years experience in developing technology so we know that this is reliable and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she continued.

She said she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent to would-be intimate image abusers.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An expert from a support service said she had seen first-hand the trauma and guilt intimate image 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 emphasized.

She noted it was inspiring that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal 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 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 a state of undress were shared around her town. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her youth that would later inform her advocacy work.

"It required years, an excessive amount of time for someone to say to me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," said Jess.

She too is passionate about removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the victims to the offenders. "There is no offence to consensually send an photo to someone," stated Jess.

"However, it is illegal to circulate that non-consensually and I think that should invariably be where the responsibility is," she affirmed.