BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas is not at all your average tech founder. After repeated occurrences of clients leaking her private explicit images, she was "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and looked to tech solutions for answers.
"Those were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the photographs, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were used against me by an individual who I have never met," said Madelaine.
Little over a year since launching her company, Image Angel, which employs invisible forensic watermarking to identify perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was recommended as exemplary procedure in an government-commissioned study recently.
This marks a significant shift from her background in offering BDSM services, working with clients in the world of kink and bondage.
A Widespread Issue
The non-consensual sharing of private images, 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 indicates that approximately 1.42% of the UK female population is impacted by this form of abuse on an annual basis.
Madelaine, 37, explained victims endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she said.
"I expect dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are up for debate," she added. "The reality that those images could be then shared in my community or with my loved ones and used to hurt them, that's unacceptable, that's not a decision I made, that's not an error on my part, that's someone being an abuser."
An Unconventional Path
Madelaine has been working as a professional dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade and always found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, offering 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 financial advisor giving advice," she remarked.
She welcomes being a unique figure in the technology sector. "I understand that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a technology firm, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to know the loopholes and the changes that were necessary," she explained.
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 "consulting experts" who understand tech.
How Does the Technology Work?
Image Angel can be used by any digital service where people exchange photos, for instance dating apps, social networks and websites.
When an image is viewed by a user, it is seamlessly tagged 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 survive screen shots, being edited and being re-captured with a different camera.
It means that if you discover your image has been circulated non-consensually, providing the service you used has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be extracted by a data recovery specialist so legal steps can follow.
To date, one service has implemented her tech and she's in talks with many others.
An Established Method for a New Purpose
"This technology already exists in the film industry, it already exists in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a novel use and a different framework," explained Madelaine.
"We have validated it, we're collaborating with a company that has 30 years experience in developing technology so we know that this is reliable and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she continued.
She said she hoped the technology would also act as a preventive measure to would-be intimate image abusers.
Changing the Narrative
An expert from a leading helpline commented she had seen first-hand the panic, distress and self-blame this abuse caused for victims.
"If that self-blame is reinforced by a uninformed acquaintance or service who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's crucial that the support somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she stated.
She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, adding: "It is really important to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling 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 multi-layered response."
TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when images of her in her underwear were circulated within her local community. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her youth that would later shape her women's rights campaigning.
"It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," recalled Jess.
She too is dedicated to removing the stigma of this crime from the survivors to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to consensually send an photo to someone," stated Jess.
"But it is a crime to circulate that without consent and I think that should always be where the responsibility is," she affirmed.
