Communication Privacy Management

In today's world, managing private information is an issue that is discussed frequently, lamented often, and wildly misunderstood. Privacy protection and privacy revelations, deciding to grant or deny access, and determining how much information a person wants to disclose to family members or physicians, all reflect examples of choices people make on a daily basis. With ever-expanding informational technologies, the challenges of making effective choices are heightened. People are more sensitized to decisions about revealing and concealing, not only in online communities, but also in face to face interactions. The need to regulate information individuals consider private has become more apparent. Although many researchers are exploring angles to better understand ways to identify the issues, the evidenced-based, social behavioral theory of communication privacy management (CPM) has proved useful in grasping the many facets of private information management and answers questions about why privacy management is wildly misunderstood. Keywords: communication theory; confidentiality; disclosure; family communication; health communication; interpersonal theory; privacy; social media