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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas is far from your average tech founder. Following repeated instances of individuals distributing 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 pictures, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," said Madelaine.

Just over a year since launching her company, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to identify perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an government-commissioned study earlier this year.

This represents quite a departure from her background in providing BDSM services, working with clients in the realms of BDSM.

A Widespread Issue

The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as revenge porn, is a punishable crime with offenders facing up to two years in prison.

It is not at all an issue uniquely experienced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study indicates that around 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by intimate image abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, 37, said survivors endured shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you put 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 fail to understand why those are up for debate," she continued. "The reality that those images could be then shared where I live or with people I love and used to hurt them, that's beyond, that's not a decision I made, that's not an error on my part, that's someone committing abuse."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, offering my body as a treat to someone of my own volition," she said.

"People think it's strange but I view it similarly to a nutritionist or an financial advisor providing a service," she remarked.

She embraces being a unique figure in the world of tech. "I understand that it's bizarre, it's crazy to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to know the flaws and the changes that needed to happen," she explained.

She maintained she was not in the least bit techy 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 implemented on any online platform where people exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social networks and websites.

When an image is viewed by a user, it is automatically embedded with an undetectable digital marker which is specific to that viewer.

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 secondary device.

It means that if you discover your image has been circulated without your consent, as long as the platform you posted it on has the system integrated, the viewer's details will be encoded in the image and can be extracted by a data recovery specialist so action can be taken.

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

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"This technology is already in use in the film industry, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not an untested concept, it's just a novel use and a new system," said Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're partnering with a firm that has decades of expertise in developing technology so we know that this is solid and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she continued.

She expressed hope she believed the technology would also act as a preventive measure to potential intimate image abusers.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An advocate from a support service commented she had seen directly the trauma and guilt intimate image abuse inflicted on victims.

"When that guilt is compounded 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 response a victim receives is that they have not done anything wrong," she emphasized.

She added it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, adding: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling tech facilitated abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to tackle this alone, not just support services, it needs to be this multi-layered response."

TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when images of her in her underwear were circulated within her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her youth that would later inform her advocacy work.

"It required years, an excessive amount of time for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that was wrong'," recalled Jess.

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

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