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Professional dominatrix Madelaine Thomas is not at all your average startup entrepreneur. After multiple instances of clients distributing her intimate photographs, she felt "angry enough to take action" and looked to technology for a solution.

"These were beautiful pictures, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm ashamed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," stated Madelaine.

Little over a year after launching her venture, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to track abusers, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as exemplary procedure in an independent pornography review recently.

This represents a significant shift from her background in offering consensual sexual encounters, dominating clients in the world of BDSM.

A Widespread Issue

Intimate image abuse, commonly known as revenge porn, is a punishable crime with perpetrators risking two years in prison.

It is not at all an issue exclusively faced by those in the adult entertainment sector. A study suggests that around 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by this form of abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, 37, said victims endured feelings of humiliation. "I think a lot of people will say, 'you put a private image out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted.

"I demand dignity, I expect respect, and I expect confidence, and I don't see why those are up for debate," she continued. "The reality that those images could be then shared in my community or with my loved ones and employed to cause them pain, that's unacceptable, that's not a decision I made, that's not an error on my part, that's someone being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and consistently found her work liberating and satisfying. "It's me as a dominant woman, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she said.

"People think it's unusual but I view it similarly to a personal trainer or an financial advisor giving advice," she remarked.

She embraces being something of an anomaly in the technology sector. "I understand that it's unconventional, it's remarkable to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a creator of a tech company, but it required someone who has been through it to understand the loopholes and the changes that needed to happen," she stated.

She maintained she was not technically inclined and was able to build her company after many late nights, research and "consulting experts" 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 media and online sites.

When an image is accessed by a viewer, it is automatically embedded 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 withstand screen shots, being edited and being photographed with a secondary device.

It ensures that if you find out your image has been circulated without your consent, providing the platform you used has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be encoded in the image and can be extracted by a data recovery specialist so action can be taken.

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

An Established Method for a New Purpose

"The system is already in use in the film industry, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not an untested concept, it's just a new application and a different framework," explained Madelaine.

"We have validated it, we're partnering 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 said she hoped the technology would also act as a preventive measure to would-be perpetrators.

Changing the Narrative

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

"If that self-blame 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 deepened so it's crucial that the support a victim receives is that they have committed no error," she emphasized.

She noted it was fantastic that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, saying: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling 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 multi-layered response."

TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when photographs of her in a state of undress were shared around her town. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her youth that would later shape her advocacy work.

"It required years, too long for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that shouldn't have happened'," recalled Jess.

She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of this crime from the survivors to the perpetrators. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an photo to someone," said Jess.

"However, it is illegal to distribute that without consent and I think that should invariably be where the responsibility is," she affirmed.