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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents far from your standard tech founder. Following repeated instances of individuals distributing her private explicit images, she was "angry enough to do something about it" and turned to technology for answers.

"These were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm ashamed of the way that they were used against me by an individual who I have never met," stated Madelaine.

Little over a year after 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 independent pornography review recently.

This represents a significant shift from her previous career in offering BDSM services, dominating clients in the realms of BDSM.

The Pervasive Problem

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

It is not at all an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A study suggests that around 1.42% of the UK female population is impacted by this form of abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, 37, said victims endured feelings of humiliation. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she noted.

"I expect dignity, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be then shared in my community 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 being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been working as a dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she described.

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

She embraces being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I know that it's unconventional, 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 been through it to know the flaws and the changes that were necessary," she explained.

She maintained she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after a lot of sleepless nights, research and "bugging people" who know about tech.

Understanding the Tech Solution

Image Angel can be implemented on any digital service where people share images, for instance social connection apps, social media and online sites.

When an image is viewed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is unique to them.

This covert marker is encoded within the copy of the image itself and can withstand screenshots, being edited and being photographed with a different camera.

It ensures that if you discover your image has been circulated without your consent, providing 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 adopted her tech and she's in talks 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 an untested concept, it's just a new application and a new system," explained Madelaine.

"And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a company that has decades of expertise in developing technology so we know that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she continued.

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

Changing the Narrative

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

"When that guilt is reinforced by a uninformed acquaintance or service who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that self blame can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the support somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she stated.

She noted it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, adding: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling technology-enabled gender-based abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to tackle this alone, not just support services, it needs to be this integrated effort."

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 endured in her teens and 20s that would later shape her advocacy work.

"It required years, too long for someone to say to me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," recalled Jess.

She too is dedicated to removing the stigma of this crime from the victims to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to consensually send an photo to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to circulate that without consent and I think that should always be where the responsibility is," she concluded.