Dominatrix Creates Tech Company to Fight Revenge Porn

Madelaine Thomas, a professional dominatrix from Monmouthshire, Wales, has taken an unusual career turn, becoming a tech entrepreneur to fight revenge porn. Her company, Image Angel, was born out of her own experience with clients leaking her private, explicit photos without her consent.

"I felt angry enough to do something about it," Thomas explained, referring to the humiliation of having her images misused. "These were beautiful pictures, I'm not ashamed of the pictures. I'm ashamed of the way that they were used against me by someone who I don't know."

Image Angel, launched just over a year ago, employs invisible forensic watermarking to track abusers. The company's innovative approach has garnered awards and earned a recommendation as best practice in Baroness Bertin's independent pornography review earlier in 2024.

Thomas, 37, has worked as a dominatrix, mainly online, for a decade, finding the work empowering. Her move into tech is a significant departure from her background in providing consensual sexual encounters involving kink, BDSM, discipline, sadism, and masochism.

Intimate image abuse, or revenge porn, is a criminal offense punishable by up to two years in prison. According to the Revenge Porn Helpline, it affects an estimated 1.42% of the UK female population annually, extending far beyond those in the sex industry.

Thomas emphasizes that survivors often face unwarranted shame and stigma. She challenges the notion that posting suggestive images online forfeits one's right to dignity, respect, and trust. She stresses that sharing such images without consent, especially to hurt loved ones, is an act of abuse, not a personal mistake.

"It's me as a dominant woman, a woman who is empowered and strong, giving my body as a treat to someone because I wish to, because I want to, because it's my body and I can do what I want with it," she said. "People think it's strange but I don't see it any differently to a nutritionist or an accountant giving advice."

Despite not considering herself tech-savvy, Thomas built Image Angel through extensive research, sleepless nights, and seeking guidance from tech experts. She sees her unique background as an advantage, providing insights into the vulnerabilities of the industry.

**How Image Angel Works**

Image Angel is designed for integration into online platforms where images are shared, including dating apps, social media, and websites. When an image is viewed, the technology automatically embeds an invisible forensic watermark unique to that viewer. This watermark persists even if the image is screenshotted, edited, or photographed with another device.

If an image is shared without consent, the platform using Image Angel can retrieve the sharer's information from the watermark, enabling action to be taken by a data recovery specialist. Currently, one platform has adopted the technology, and Thomas is in discussions with several others.

Thomas points out that similar technology is already used in Hollywood and sports broadcasting. The company is partnering with a firm with 30 years of experience in technology development to ensure its system is robust and ready for large-scale testing. She hopes the technology will deter potential abusers.

Kate Worthington of the Southwest Grid for Learning's (SWGFL) Revenge Porn Helpline underscores the devastating impact of intimate image abuse, including panic, distress, and self-blame. She commends Thomas for using her experience to drive change, emphasizing the need for a multi-faceted approach to combat tech-facilitated gender-based abuse. SWGFL offers StopNCII.org, a global tool that creates a hash from intimate images and videos, sharing it with participating companies to detect and remove the images online.

*If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, support and advice is available via the BBC Action Line.*