The communications privacy management is a systematic research theory that was designed to help people to acquire an evidence-based understanding of the ways in which they can make critical discretions about revealing and concealing of private information ( Petronio, 2016) . The case under consideration is where a person may have a suspicious lump below the belt and upon careful examination; the doctor says that the patient has cervical cancer, necessitating exploratory surgery. In such a case, the patient will adopt a rule-based framework for sharing of this private information. The theory proposes that such a person should maintain and coordinate the privacy boundaries including maintaining the limits of what can be shared willingly with various communication partners depending on the perceived benefits and costs related to the disclosure of the information. Sandra Petronio, having designed the theory in 1991, uses the boundary metaphor to explain the ways in which the process of managing of private information is carried out. According to her conception, privacy boundaries are the lines that are used to draw the divisions between information that is found in the private sphere and that which is found in the public sphere ( Petronio, 2016) . The theory argues that the process of disclosure of private information depends on a rule-based management system that controls the levels of accessibility. The communication privacy management theory thus presents strengths and weaknesses related to the sharing of information among individuals as discussed in this paper.
Strengths of the Communication Privacy Management Theory
The communication privacy management theory argues that the individual’s privacy boundary should govern the self-disclosures therein. As such, when people disclose their information, the negotiation of the privacy rules between the parties making the disclosure and that which receives the information is required. The theory has the major strength in the sense that it guides people to believe that they own and have a right of controlling their private information ( Griffin, Ledbetter & Sparks, 2015) . The theory presents personal privacy rules that help people to control their private information, while disclosure enables third parties receiving the private information to become co-owners of that information ( Petronio, 2016) . The fundamental aspect that Petronio explains as being the strength of the theory is that co-owners of the private information are guided on how to negotiate mutually agreeable privacy rules about telling others.
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Since the theory guides through the process of sharing private information, it is evident that revealing the private information such as that related to a chronic medical condition strengthens the relationships with significant people in life ( Petronio, 2016) . The first section of the system of the theory is privacy ownership, which contains the privacy boundaries ranging from the thin and porous filters to thick impenetrable barriers that may shield deep dark secretes. As such, the theory has a major strength in the sense that it guides people on making the right decision about what to share and what not to share ( Petronio, 2016) . The second portion of the theory is comprised of the privacy control system, which involves the decision of people to share private information. As such, Petronio considers that the decisions of sharing information or relinquishing some control have the capability of reshaping the boundaries contained in the privacy ownership part of the system. The theory is also made up of the privacy turbulence element, which helps people to know how to manage private information especially if it does not go the way in which is expected after sharing with third parties ( Griffin et al., 2015) . In this case, the theory presents a major strength in the sense that the decisions that people make in the aftermath of the breach are directed at reducing the levels of turbulence.
The other strength of the theory is that it uses a phrase that has a neutral connotation as compared to the use of a phrase like self-disclosure that has a positive feel. In this case, self-disclosure is found out to focus on the unilateral act of the disclosure, where the use of the phrase of disclosure of private information has a major boost as it becomes a description that directs attention to the content of what is said and how the confidant handles the information that would now have moved from the private sphere to the public sphere. The theory is also helpful as it guides the co-owners of the information on how to handle the information because it explains the rights and obligations that ownership conveys.
Weaknesses
The communications privacy management theory, just like any other theoretical perspective has its flaws too. The theory makes different assumptions, which might negatively affect the rational life that is characterized by change. For instance, by assuming that humans are choice-makers, the theory neglects the impacts of the privacy turbulence that may occur when the management of private information does not go the ways in which the private information holder expects. The theory also assumes that humans are rule-makers and rule-followers, where it ignores adverse cases when humans break the same rules that they create ( Petronio, 2016) . For instance, since information is owned, each owner has the role of deciding whether or not they are willing to have a confidant. As such, the theory fails to guide the information owners on how to choose the confidant and how to deal with the consequences of privacy turbulence.
Conclusion
The communication privacy management theory is thus a rule-based process and not an individual decision that is meant to explain the ways in which people share private information. The attributes of the privacy rule refer to the ways in which people obtain rules of privacy and how they comprehend the properties of those rules. The process of sharing of private information happens through social interactions, where the boundaries for the rules are put to test. The theory presents the major strength in the sense that it is based on systematic research that is designed to develop the evidence-based understanding of the ways in which people regulate and conceal private information. The major weakness of the theory is that it identifies the privacy turbulence that occurs in the course of sharing of private information, even though it fails to give solutions on how to respond to cases where the system of management of private information does not go the way in which the owner expects.
References
Griffin, E., Ledbetter, A., & Sparks, G. (2015). Communication Privacy Management Theory of Sandra Petronio. A First Look at Communication Theory (Ninth ed., pp. 151-163). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education .
Petronio, S. (2016). Communication privacy management. The international encyclopedia of communication theory and philosophy , 151-209.
