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BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas embodies far from your typical tech founder. After multiple instances of individuals distributing her intimate photographs, she was "sufficiently outraged to do something about it" and looked to tech solutions for answers.

"These were striking images, I'm not ashamed of the pictures, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," explained Madelaine.

Just over a year since launching her venture, Image Angel, which employs covert digital tracking to track perpetrators, has garnered significant recognition and was cited as best practice in an independent pornography review earlier this year.

This represents a significant shift from her background in offering BDSM services, working with clients in the world of BDSM.

The Pervasive Problem

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

It is far from an issue exclusively faced by those in the sex industry. A study suggests that around 1.42% of the women in the UK is impacted by intimate image abuse each year.

Madelaine, thirty-seven, explained survivors endured shame and stigma. "I think a lot of people will say, 'you shared a private image out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she noted.

"I demand dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she added. "The reality that those images could be then shared in my community or with people I love and used to hurt them, that's beyond, that's not my choice, that's not an error on my part, that's someone being an abuser."

An Unconventional Path

Madelaine has been practicing as a dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "I am as a woman in control, a woman who is confident and powerful, giving my body as a gift to someone of my own volition," she described.

"People think it's unusual but I don't see it any differently to a nutritionist or an accountant providing a service," she added.

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 took someone who has been through it to know the loopholes and the modifications that needed to happen," she stated.

She maintained she was not technically inclined and was able to build her company after many sleepless nights, research and "bugging people" who know about tech.

Understanding the Tech Solution

Image Angel can be implemented on any digital service where people exchange photos, for instance dating apps, social media and online sites.

When an image is accessed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is unique to them.

This covert marker is encoded within the copy of the image itself and can survive screen shots, being altered and being photographed with a secondary device.

It means that if you find out your image has been shared non-consensually, providing the platform you used has the technology embedded, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be retrieved by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow.

Currently, one platform has implemented her tech and she's in discussions with many others.

Proven Technology, New Application

"The system 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 new application and a different framework," explained Madelaine.

"And we've tested it, we're collaborating with a company that has 30 years experience in developing technology so we are confident that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she added.

She said she hoped the technology would also act as a preventive measure to potential perpetrators.

Removing Stigma, Shifting Blame

An advocate from a leading helpline said she had seen first-hand the panic, distress and self-blame this abuse caused for victims.

"When that guilt is reinforced by a misinformed friend or service who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that guilt can really be deepened so it's really important that the support somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she emphasized.

She noted it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to bring about change, adding: "It is really important to have this multi-layered approach towards tackling technology-enabled 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 integrated effort."

TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when images of her in a state of undress were circulated within her local community. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her youth that would later shape her advocacy work.

"It took so long, an excessive amount of time for someone to tell me, 'it wasn't your fault' and 'that was wrong'," recalled Jess.

She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of intimate image abuse from the victims to the perpetrators. "There is no offence to willingly share an photo to someone," stated Jess.

"But it is a crime to circulate that without consent and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she affirmed.