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BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas embodies not at all your average tech founder. After multiple instances of individuals leaking her intimate photographs, she felt "angry enough to take action" and turned to tech solutions for a solution.

"These 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.

Little over a year after launching her company, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to track perpetrators, has won several awards and was recommended as best practice in an independent pornography review recently.

This marks a significant shift from her previous career in offering consensual sexual encounters, working with clients in the realms of kink and bondage.

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 suggests that approximately 1.42% of the women in the UK is affected by this form of abuse on an annual basis.

Madelaine, 37, explained victims lived with shame and stigma. "I think a lot of people will say, 'you shared a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you expect?'," she said.

"I demand dignity, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The reality that those images could be then shared in my community or with people I love 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 an individual being an abuser."

A Unique Journey

Madelaine has been practicing as a professional dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and consistently found her work empowering and fulfilling. "It's me as a woman in control, a woman who is confident and powerful, offering my body as a treat to someone because I wish to," she said.

"Some believe it's unusual but I don't see it any differently to a nutritionist or an accountant giving advice," she remarked.

She embraces being a unique figure in the technology sector. "I know that it's unconventional, it's crazy to think that someone who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a technology firm, but it took someone who has experienced it firsthand to understand the flaws and the changes that needed to happen," she stated.

She insisted she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after many sleepless nights, investigation 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 accessed by a viewer, it is seamlessly tagged with an invisible forensic watermark which is unique to them.

This invisible watermark is embedded into the digital file of the image itself and can withstand screen shots, being edited and being photographed with a different camera.

It means that if you discover your image has been circulated without your consent, as long as the platform you posted it on has the system integrated, the sharer's information will be hidden within the image and can be extracted by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow.

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 is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not an untested concept, it's just a novel use and a new system," said Madelaine.

"And we've tested it, we're partnering with a company that has 30 years experience in developing technology 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 intimate image abusers.

Changing the Narrative

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

"If that self-blame is reinforced 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 really important that the support somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she stated.

She added it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, adding: "It is vital to have this multi-layered approach towards addressing technology-enabled abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to solve this problem, not just support services, it needs to be this multi-layered response."

TV presenter Jess Davies was just 15 when images of her in her underwear were shared around her local community. It was the first of several incidents Jess endured in her teens and 20s that would later inform her women's rights campaigning.

"It took so long, too long for someone to say to 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 offenders. "It isn't a crime to consensually send an photo to someone," stated Jess.

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