🔗 Share this article

BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas embodies far from your standard startup entrepreneur. After repeated instances of individuals distributing her private explicit images, she was "sufficiently outraged to take action" and looked to tech solutions for answers.

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

Little over a year since founding her venture, Image Angel, which employs invisible forensic watermarking to identify perpetrators, has won several awards and was recommended as exemplary procedure in an government-commissioned study earlier this year.

This represents a significant shift from her background in providing BDSM services, working with clients in the world of BDSM.

A Widespread Issue

The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as image-based abuse, is a criminal offence with perpetrators facing up to two years in prison.

It is far from an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A report suggests that around 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by this form of abuse each year.

Madelaine, thirty-seven, said survivors endured shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she said.

"I expect respect, I expect respect, and I expect trust, and I fail to understand why those are up for debate," she added. "The reality that those images could be then shared in my community or with people I love and employed to cause them pain, that's beyond, that's not a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's someone being an abuser."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been working as a dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "It's me as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, offering my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she described.

"People think it's unusual but I don't see it any differently to a personal trainer or an financial advisor providing a service," she added.

She embraces being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "I understand that it's bizarre, it's remarkable to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, 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 technically inclined and was managed to build her company after many late nights, investigation and "consulting experts" who understand tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be used by any online platform where people share images, for instance social connection apps, social networks and online sites.

When an image is accessed by a user, it is automatically embedded with an invisible forensic watermark which is specific to that viewer.

This covert marker is embedded into the copy of the image itself and can withstand screenshots, being edited and being photographed with a secondary device.

It means that if you discover your image has been shared without your consent, providing 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 legal steps can follow.

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

Proven Technology, New Application

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

"We have validated it, we're collaborating 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 said she believed the technology would also act as a preventive measure to potential perpetrators.

Changing the Narrative

An expert from a support service said she had seen first-hand the panic, distress and self-blame this abuse inflicted on victims.

"When that guilt is compounded by a misinformed friend or professional 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 response a victim receives 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 really important to have this comprehensive strategy towards addressing technology-enabled gender-based abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to solve this problem, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort."

TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in her underwear were shared around her local community. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her teens and 20s that would later shape her women's rights campaigning.

"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 passionate about eliminating the shame of this crime from the victims to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to willingly share an image to someone," stated Jess.

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