đź”— Share this article Transitioning from BDSM Practitioner to Technology Entrepreneur: A Unique Campaign To Combat Revenge Porn Madelaine Thomas explains her personal experience of having her private photos leaked gives her a unique insight as a technology entrepreneur. BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas is far from your typical tech founder. Following multiple occurrences of individuals distributing her intimate photographs, she was "sufficiently outraged to take action" and looked to tech solutions for answers. "These were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the manner that they were used against me by an individual who I have never met," stated Madelaine. Madelaine has received several awards including the Innovation in Tech Safety award at a major industry conference. Just over a year after founding her company, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to identify perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an independent pornography review earlier this year. This represents quite a departure from her previous career in offering BDSM services, dominating clients in the world of kink and bondage. The Pervasive Problem Intimate image abuse, commonly known as revenge porn, is a punishable crime with offenders facing up to two years in prison. It is far from an issue uniquely experienced by those in the sex industry. A report indicates that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is affected by this form of abuse on an annual basis. Madelaine, 37, said survivors endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will comment, 'you put a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted. "I demand respect, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I fail to understand why those are negotiable," she added. "The fact that those images could be then shared in my community or with my loved ones and used to hurt them, that's beyond, that's not my choice, that's not my mistake, that's someone committing abuse." Madelaine hopes her technology will deter potential individuals from sharing photos without consent. An Unconventional Path Madelaine has been working as a dominatrix, primarily online, for 10 years and always found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, offering 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 financial advisor giving advice," she remarked. 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 tech company, but it required someone who has experienced it firsthand to know the loopholes and the changes that needed to happen," she explained. She insisted she was not technically inclined and was able to build her company after many sleepless nights, investigation and "consulting experts" who understand tech. Understanding the Tech Solution Image Angel can be used by any online platform where people share images, for instance social connection apps, social networks and websites. When an image is accessed by a viewer, it is automatically embedded with an undetectable digital marker which is specific to that viewer. This covert marker is encoded within the digital file of the image itself and can withstand screen shots, being edited and being re-captured with a different camera. It means that if you find out your image has been shared without your consent, providing the service you used has the system integrated, the viewer's details will be encoded in 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 talks with several more. An Established Method for a New Purpose "This technology is already in use in Hollywood, it already exists in live television so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," explained Madelaine. "And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a firm that has 30 years experience in tech development so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is test it at scale," she continued. She expressed hope she hoped the technology would also act as a preventive measure to would-be perpetrators. Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame An advocate from a leading helpline said she had seen directly the panic, distress and self-blame intimate image abuse caused for victims. "If that self-blame is reinforced by a misinformed friend or professional who says 'what did you expect?' 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 stated. She noted it was fantastic that Madelaine was leveraging her ordeal to bring about change, saying: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards addressing tech facilitated abuse, because no one tool is going to be able to tackle this alone, not just support services, it needs to be this integrated effort." Madelaine Thomas and TV presenter Jess Davies have been victims of experiencing their intimate images distributed non-consensually. TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when photographs of her in her underwear were circulated within her town. It was the beginning of multiple violations Jess experienced in her teens and 20s that would later inform her advocacy work. "It took so long, too long for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," recalled Jess. She too is dedicated to removing the stigma of this crime from the victims to the offenders. "It isn't a crime to willingly share an photo to someone," stated Jess. "However, it is illegal to distribute that non-consensually and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she concluded.