🔗 Share this article Transitioning from Dominatrix to Tech Founder: A Unique Campaign Against Intimate Image Abuse Madelaine Thomas states her personal experience of having her intimate images leaked offers her a distinct perspective as a technology entrepreneur. Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas represents not at all your standard tech founder. After multiple instances of individuals leaking her intimate photographs, she felt "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and looked to tech solutions for a solution. "Those were beautiful pictures, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm ashamed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," stated Madelaine. Madelaine has won multiple accolades such as the Innovation in Tech Safety award at a major safety summit. Little over a year after founding her venture, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to track perpetrators, has won several awards and was cited as exemplary procedure in an government-commissioned study earlier this year. This marks quite a departure from her previous career in offering BDSM services, dominating clients in the realms of BDSM. The Pervasive Problem Intimate image abuse, often referred to as image-based abuse, is a criminal offence with offenders facing up to two years in prison. It is not at all an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A report suggests that around 1.42% of the women in the UK is affected by this form of abuse each year. Madelaine, thirty-seven, said victims endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a private image out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she said. "I demand respect, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she added. "The fact that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with my loved ones and used to hurt them, that's unacceptable, that's not a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's someone committing abuse." Madelaine hopes her technology will deter would-be intimate image abusers without consent. An Unconventional Path Madelaine has been working as a dominatrix, primarily online, for a decade and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she said. "People think it's unusual but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an accountant giving advice," she added. She embraces being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "I know that it's bizarre, it's remarkable to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a technology firm, but it required someone who has been through it to understand the loopholes and the changes that were necessary," she stated. She insisted she was not in the least bit techy and was managed to build her company after a lot of sleepless nights, investigation and "bugging people" who understand tech. How Does the Technology Work? Image Angel can be implemented on any online platform where people exchange photos, for instance dating apps, social media and websites. 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 survive screenshots, being edited and being re-captured with a secondary device. It ensures that if you find out your image has been shared non-consensually, as long as the platform you used has the technology embedded, the viewer's details will be encoded in the image and can be extracted by a forensic expert so action can be taken. Currently, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with several more. Proven Technology, New Application "This technology is already in use in the film industry, it already exists in live television so this is not an untested concept, it's just a new application and a different framework," explained Madelaine. "And we've tested it, we're partnering with a firm that has 30 years experience in tech development so we are confident that this is reliable and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she added. She expressed hope she hoped the technology would also act as a preventive measure to would-be perpetrators. Changing the Narrative An advocate from a leading helpline said she had seen directly the trauma and guilt this abuse caused for victims. "When that guilt is reinforced by a misinformed friend or service who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's crucial that the support somebody is provided with is that they have not done anything wrong," she stated. She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal to create solutions, saying: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards addressing technology-enabled gender-based abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to tackle this alone, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort." Madelaine Thomas and TV presenter Jess Davies have been victims of experiencing their private photos distributed non-consensually. TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in a state of undress were circulated within her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess endured in her teens and 20s that would later shape 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 shouldn't have happened'," said Jess. She too is dedicated to removing the stigma of intimate image abuse from the victims to the offenders. "It isn't a crime to willingly share an photo to someone," said Jess. "However, it is illegal to circulate that without consent and I think that should always be where the blame is," she concluded.