diff --git a/ddtrace/tracer/option.go b/ddtrace/tracer/option.go
index 2dc38796ad..c1499e190f 100644
--- a/ddtrace/tracer/option.go
+++ b/ddtrace/tracer/option.go
@@ -829,3 +829,42 @@ func StackFrames(n, skip uint) FinishOption {
 		cfg.SkipStackFrames = skip
 	}
 }
+
+// UserTagOption represents a function that can be provided as a parameter to SetUser.
+// This is used to normalize user tags key/value pairs.
+type UserTagOption func() (key string, val interface{})
+
+// WithUserEmailTag emits the normalized key/value UserTagOption holding user email information.
+func WithUserEmailTag(email string) UserTagOption {
+	return func() (key string, val interface{}) {
+		return "usr.email", email
+	}
+}
+
+// WithUserNameTag emits the normalized key/value UserTagOption holding user name information.
+func WithUserNameTag(name string) UserTagOption {
+	return func() (key string, val interface{}) {
+		return "usr.name", name
+	}
+}
+
+// WithUserSessionIDTag emits the normalized key/value UserTagOption holding user session id information.
+func WithUserSessionIDTag(sessionID string) UserTagOption {
+	return func() (key string, val interface{}) {
+		return "usr.session_id", sessionID
+	}
+}
+
+// WithUserRoleTag emits the normalized key/value UserTagOption holding user role information.
+func WithUserRoleTag(role string) UserTagOption {
+	return func() (key string, val interface{}) {
+		return "usr.role", role
+	}
+}
+
+// WithUserScopeTag emits the normalized key/value UserTagOption holding user scope information.
+func WithUserScopeTag(scope string) UserTagOption {
+	return func() (key string, val interface{}) {
+		return "usr.scope", scope
+	}
+}
diff --git a/ddtrace/tracer/tracer.go b/ddtrace/tracer/tracer.go
index 8532f5cbcd..efd6f51a14 100644
--- a/ddtrace/tracer/tracer.go
+++ b/ddtrace/tracer/tracer.go
@@ -153,6 +153,24 @@ func Inject(ctx ddtrace.SpanContext, carrier interface{}) error {
 	return internal.GetGlobalTracer().Inject(ctx, carrier)
 }
 
+// SetUser tags the root span of s with the provided user id as well as the
+// optional tags provided as userTagOption parameters. This allows user identification
+// across all spans of a trace.
+func SetUser(s Span, id string, opts ...UserTagOption) {
+	if s == nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if span, ok := s.(*span); ok {
+		if span.context != nil {
+			span = span.context.trace.root
+		}
+		span.SetTag("usr.id", id)
+		for _, fn := range opts {
+			span.SetTag(fn())
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // payloadQueueSize is the buffer size of the trace channel.
 const payloadQueueSize = 1000