The Identity Trade

“Featuring interviews with such industry figures as Fred Davis, founder of the identity management company Lumeria, and Josh Galper, general counsel for the online data vault provider Personal, the book brings to light the cultural and economic ramifications of the publics desire for online privacy… . Throughout, Draper examines the rights, expectations, and economics of digital privacy with expert fascination.” (Publishers Weekly) “How did ‘protect your privacy online’ become ‘cultivate your personal brand’? Draper shines a light on the entrepreneurs in the privacy game, many overlooked or long gone, who had an outsized influence on how we think about privacy today. The Identity Trade provides a rich and important history, but also an astute meditation on how industry can shape cultural logics in profound ways.” - Tarleton Gillespie,author of Custodians of the Internet “In analyzing the burgeoning consumer privacy industry through its failures, Draper traces shifts in the industrial definition of privacy from anonymity to controlled exposure. The Identity Trade demonstrates how the economics of privacy directly shapes our understanding of what privacy is and how we might practice it. Essential reading for anyone concerned about their ‘privacy,’ their vulnerability to data breaches, and the myriad other ‘identity’ pitfalls that come along with online life as we know it.” - Alison Hearn,University of Western Ontario “While we have been obsession over the ways Facebook and Google have blown away our ability to manage information about ourselves, a fascinating and troubling industry devoted to privacy management has emerged. In this lucid book, Draper reveals the assumptions and ideologies that drive the players in that industry, and thus reveals what’s really at stake as we lurch toward a future we can’t seem to control.” - Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of Antisocial Media: How Facebook Disconnects Us and Undermines Democracy

Nora A. Draper is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of New Hampshire.