This innovative work offers a new perspective on the established tort of misuse of private information, contending that English law has evolved a sophisticated mechanism for the protection of privacy and the protection of the economic value in private information.

Although information generally is not property, private information now appears to be treated by English law as a form of property, giving the owner of the information rights of exclusion, exploitation and transfer.

Balancing philosophical discussion of the fundamentals with a detailed analysis of the practical difficulties of "propertising" information, the books suggests that English law has evolved a powerful tool for the protection of privacy in this data-driven world.