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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas embodies not at all your average tech founder. Following repeated instances of individuals distributing her private explicit images, she felt "angry enough to do something about it" and turned to tech solutions for answers.

"Those were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," stated Madelaine.

Just over a year since founding her company, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to track perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was recommended as exemplary procedure in an independent pornography review earlier this year.

This marks a significant shift from her background in offering BDSM services, dominating clients in the world of kink and bondage.

The Pervasive Problem

The non-consensual sharing of private images, often referred to 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 sex industry. A report suggests that around 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by this form of abuse each year.

Madelaine, 37, explained victims lived with shame and stigma. "I think a lot of people will say, 'you put a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she said.

"I demand dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she added. "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 an individual being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "It's me as a woman in control, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a gift to someone because I wish to," she said.

"Some believe it's strange but I view it similarly to a nutritionist or an accountant providing a service," she added.

She embraces being a unique figure in the world of tech. "I understand that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a technology firm, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the flaws and the modifications 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 "bugging people" who understand tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

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

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

This covert marker is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being altered and being re-captured with a different camera.

It means that if you discover your image has been shared without your consent, providing the service you posted it on has the system integrated, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be extracted by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow.

To date, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with many others.

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"This technology already exists in the film industry, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," said 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 test it at scale," she added.

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

Changing the Narrative

An advocate from a leading helpline commented she had seen directly the panic, distress and self-blame intimate image abuse inflicted on victims.

"When that guilt is compounded by a misinformed friend 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 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, 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, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort."

TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when photographs of her in her underwear 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, too long for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," said Jess.

She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of intimate image abuse from the survivors to the offenders. "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 affirmed.