Lawrence Cappello is an Associate Professor of U.S. Legal & Constitutional History at the University of Alabama and a certified information privacy professional (CIPP/US & CIPM). He is a graduate of New York City Public Schools and received his PhD from the City University of New York.
He is the author of On Privacy: Twenty Lessons to Live By (Hachette Book Group) and None of Your Damn Business: Privacy in the United States from the Gilded Age to the Digital Age (University of Chicago Press). His work on the right to privacy has appeared in Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Hill, The Economist, and other publications.
He consults for public and private organizations nationwide regarding privacy program management, data regulation compliance, and best practices.
On Privacy: Twenty Lessons to Live By
A Next Big Idea Club “Must Read” Book of 2025
“A lucid, concise primer on what privacy is, why it’s so important, and what you can do to protect it in the digital age. On Privacy is indispensable.” ―James Oakes, Two-Time Winner of the Lincoln Prize
“In an age of constant connectivity, privacy can feel like a thing of the past—but award-winning professor Lawrence Cappello makes a compelling case for why it still matters.” — Fast Company
None of Your Damn Business
“This book is a must-read for legislators, policymakers, and anyone curious about the ways their privacy could potentially be compromised by the government, the media, or data brokers.” — Publisher’s Weekly
“Thoroughly researched and deftly told, None of Your Damn Business is a history of privacy written for and about Wall Street and Main Street, government and the courts, intelligence operatives and digital entrepreneurs, current and future citizens. It deserves our full attention.” — David Nasaw, NY Times best-selling author of The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy
“Privacy, or the intimate politics of power, is becoming more important with each day. If there is no privacy, there can be no resistance and thus no social progress. In this fine book, Cappello makes a lucid case for why we need what Justice Louis Brandeis called ‘the right to be left alone.’” — Christian Parenti, author of Radical Hamilton: Economic Lessons from a Misunderstood Founder
Lawrence Cappello PhD, CIPP/US, CIPM
Lawrence Cappello 