🔗 Share this article

BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas is not at all your typical startup entrepreneur. After multiple instances of clients distributing her intimate photographs, she was "angry enough to do something about it" and looked to technology for a solution.

"These were striking images, I'm not ashamed of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the manner that they were weaponized by someone who I don't know," stated Madelaine.

Little over a year since launching her venture, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to track abusers, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as exemplary procedure in an independent pornography review recently.

This represents a significant shift from her background in offering consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the realms of kink and bondage.

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 not at all an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study suggests that around 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by intimate image abuse each year.

Madelaine, 37, explained victims endured feelings of humiliation. "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 dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are up for debate," she continued. "The reality that those images could be then shared where I live or with my loved ones and employed to cause them pain, that's beyond, that's not a decision I made, that's not an error on my part, that's someone being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is empowered and strong, offering my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she said.

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

She welcomes being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "I know that it's unconventional, it's remarkable to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a technology firm, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the loopholes and the modifications that were necessary," she explained.

She insisted she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after many late nights, research and "consulting experts" who know about tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be used by any online platform where people share images, for instance dating apps, social media and websites.

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

This invisible watermark is embedded into the copy of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being altered and being photographed with a secondary device.

It ensures 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 extracted by a forensic expert so action can be taken.

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

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"The system 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 new application and a new system," said Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're collaborating with a firm that has 30 years experience in developing technology so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she added.

She said she believed the technology would also act as a deterrent to potential perpetrators.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An expert from a leading helpline said she had seen first-hand the trauma and guilt this abuse inflicted on victims.

"When that guilt is reinforced by a misinformed friend or service who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's crucial that the response somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she emphasized.

She added it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, saying: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling tech facilitated abuse, because a single solution 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 endured in her teens and 20s that would later inform her women's rights campaigning.

"It took so long, 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 willingly share an photo to someone," stated Jess.

"But it is a crime to distribute that non-consensually and I think that should invariably be where the responsibility is," she affirmed.