🔗 Share this article Transitioning from BDSM Practitioner to Technology Entrepreneur: An Unconventional Fight To Combat Revenge Porn Madelaine Thomas explains her first-hand ordeal of having her private photos leaked offers her a distinct perspective as a technology entrepreneur. BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas represents far from your standard startup entrepreneur. After repeated instances of individuals distributing her intimate photographs, she was "sufficiently outraged to take action" and turned to tech solutions for a solution. "Those were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm embarrassed of the manner that they were used against me by someone who I have never met," stated Madelaine. Madelaine has received several awards such as the Tech Safety Innovation award at a major safety summit. Just over a year since founding her company, Image Angel, which uses invisible forensic watermarking to track perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an government-commissioned study earlier this year. This marks quite a departure from her previous career in providing consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the world of kink and bondage. The Pervasive Problem The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as revenge porn, is a criminal offence with perpetrators risking two years in prison. It is far from an issue exclusively faced by those in the sex industry. A study indicates that around 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by this form of abuse each year. Madelaine, 37, said survivors endured feelings of humiliation. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you put a private image out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she said. "I expect respect, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with people I love and used to hurt them, that's unacceptable, that's not my choice, that's not an error on my part, that's an individual being an abuser." Madelaine aims her tech will deter potential individuals from sharing photos without consent. A Unique Journey Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years and consistently found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am 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 described. "People think it's unusual but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an financial advisor giving advice," 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 required someone who has been through it to know the loopholes and the modifications that needed to happen," she stated. She insisted she was not in the least bit techy and was managed to build her company after a lot of late nights, investigation and "consulting experts" who understand tech. How Does the Technology Work? Image Angel can be implemented on any online platform where people share images, for instance dating apps, social networks and online sites. When an image is viewed by a user, 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 withstand screenshots, being edited and being photographed with a different camera. It means that if you find out your image has been shared non-consensually, providing the service you posted it on has the technology embedded, the viewer's details will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a data recovery specialist so action can be taken. Currently, one platform has implemented 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 novel use and a different framework," explained Madelaine. "We have validated it, we're partnering with a company that has decades of expertise in tech development so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she continued. She expressed hope she believed the technology would also act as a preventive measure to potential perpetrators. Changing the Narrative An expert from a leading helpline commented she had seen directly the trauma and guilt this abuse inflicted on victims. "If that self-blame is reinforced by a uninformed acquaintance or service who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the support a victim receives is that they have not done anything wrong," she emphasized. She noted it was fantastic that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal to create solutions, adding: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling tech facilitated gender-based abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to tackle this alone, not just support services, it needs to be this multi-layered response." Madelaine Thomas and TV presenter Jess Davies have been victims of having their intimate images distributed non-consensually. TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when images of her in a state of undress were circulated within her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her youth 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'," said Jess. She too is dedicated to eliminating the shame of this crime from the survivors to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to consensually send an image to someone," said Jess. "But it is a crime to distribute that without consent and I think that should always be where the blame is," she affirmed.