From Dominatrix to Technology Entrepreneur: A Unique Fight To Combat Revenge Porn

BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas embodies far from your average startup entrepreneur. Following repeated occurrences of individuals distributing her intimate photographs, she felt "sufficiently outraged to take action" and looked to technology for answers.

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

Just over a year since founding her venture, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to identify abusers, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an government-commissioned study recently.

This represents quite a departure from her background in providing consensual sexual encounters, working with clients in the realms of BDSM.

The Pervasive Problem

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

It is not at all an issue uniquely experienced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A report indicates that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by intimate image abuse each year.

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

"I expect dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The reality that those images could be subsequently distributed in my community or with my loved ones and used to hurt them, that's beyond, that's not a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's an individual committing abuse."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been working as a dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she described.

"Some believe it's strange but I don't see it any differently to a personal trainer or an financial advisor giving advice," she added.

She embraces being something of an anomaly in the world of tech. "I know that it's bizarre, 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 know the flaws and the modifications that were necessary," she explained.

She maintained she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after many late nights, research and "consulting experts" who know about tech.

How Does the Technology Work?

Image Angel can be implemented on any online platform where people exchange photos, for instance social connection apps, social networks and online sites.

When an image is viewed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an undetectable digital marker which is specific to that viewer.

This invisible watermark is encoded within the copy of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being edited and being photographed with a different camera.

It means that if you discover your image has been shared without your consent, as long as the platform you used has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a data recovery specialist so action can be taken.

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

Proven Technology, New Application

"This technology is already in use 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 new system," explained Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're collaborating with a company that has 30 years experience in tech development so we are confident that this is reliable 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 deterrent 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 caused for victims.

"If that self-blame is compounded by a misinformed friend or service who says 'what did you expect?' that guilt can really be reinforced so it's really important that the support a victim receives is that they have not done anything wrong," she emphasized.

She added it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, saying: "It is really important to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling tech facilitated abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to tackle this alone, not just support services, it needs to be this integrated effort."

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 endured in her teens and 20s that would later inform her advocacy work.

"It took so long, an excessive amount of time for someone to say to me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," recalled Jess.

She too is passionate about removing the stigma of this crime from the survivors to the perpetrators. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an image to someone," stated Jess.

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