BDSM practitioner Madelaine Thomas embodies not at all your typical tech founder. Following repeated instances of individuals leaking her intimate photographs, she felt "angry enough to take action" and turned to technology for a solution.
"Those were striking images, I'm unapologetic of the pictures, I'm embarrassed of the way that they were weaponized by an individual who I have never met," said Madelaine.
Just over a year after launching her venture, Image Angel, which uses covert digital tracking to identify abusers, has won several awards and was cited as exemplary procedure in an government-commissioned study earlier this year.
This represents quite a departure from her previous career in offering BDSM services, working with clients in the realms of BDSM.
The non-consensual sharing of private images, commonly known as image-based abuse, is a punishable crime with perpetrators facing up to two years in prison.
It is not at all an issue exclusively faced by those in the sex industry. A study suggests that approximately 1.42% of the UK female population is affected by intimate image abuse on an annual basis.
Madelaine, 37, said survivors endured shame and stigma. "In my view a lot of people will comment, 'you put a saucy picture out on the internet, what do you anticipate?'," she noted.
"I demand respect, I expect consideration, and I expect trust, and I don't see why those are negotiable," she continued. "The fact that those images could be subsequently distributed where I live or with people I love and used to hurt them, that's unacceptable, that's not a decision I made, that's not my mistake, that's someone being an abuser."
Madelaine has been practicing as a dominatrix, mainly online, for 10 years and always found her work liberating and satisfying. "I am as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving 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 personal trainer or an financial advisor providing a service," she remarked.
She welcomes being a unique figure in the technology sector. "I know that it's bizarre, it's crazy to think that an individual who was a dominatrix is now a founder of a tech company, but it required someone who has experienced it firsthand to know the loopholes and the modifications that were necessary," she explained.
She insisted she was not technically inclined and was managed to build her company after many late nights, research and "bugging people" who understand tech.
Image Angel can be used by any digital service where people share images, for instance dating apps, social networks and websites.
When an image is viewed by a user, it is automatically embedded 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 screenshots, being altered and being photographed with a different camera.
It ensures that if you find out your image has been circulated non-consensually, as long as the platform you used has the technology embedded, the viewer's details will be encoded in the image and can be retrieved by a forensic expert so legal steps can follow.
Currently, one platform has adopted her tech and she's in discussions with several more.
"This technology is already in use in the film industry, it is employed in sports broadcasting so this is not brand new technology, it's just a new application and a new system," said Madelaine.
"We have validated it, we're collaborating with a firm that has 30 years experience in tech development so we know that this is solid and what we now need to do is deploy it widely," she continued.
She expressed hope she hoped the technology would also act as a deterrent to would-be intimate image abusers.
An expert from a support service said she had seen directly the panic, distress and self-blame intimate image abuse caused for victims.
"When that guilt is compounded by a uninformed acquaintance or service who says 'well, why did you take those images in the first place?' that guilt can really be reinforced so it's crucial that the response somebody is provided with is that they have committed no error," she emphasized.
She added it was inspiring that Madelaine was using her experience to create solutions, saying: "It is vital to have this comprehensive strategy towards tackling technology-enabled gender-based abuse, because a single solution is going to be able to solve this problem, no one helpline, it needs to be this integrated effort."
TV presenter Jess Davies was only fifteen when photographs of her in her underwear were circulated within her town. It was the first of several incidents Jess experienced in her youth that would later inform her advocacy work.
"It took so long, too long for someone to say to me, 'you are not to blame' and 'that was wrong'," said Jess.
She too is passionate about eliminating the shame of intimate image abuse from the victims to the perpetrators. "It isn't a crime to willingly share an image to someone," stated Jess.
"However, it is illegal to circulate that non-consensually and I think that should invariably be where the blame is," she affirmed.
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