High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Communication privacy management theory, originally known as communication boundary management, is a communication theory first developed by Sandra Petronio. Petronio first published her findings on Communication Boundary Management in 1991 in Communication Theory which is a reputable communication journal. Petronio’s conclusions were critical to the study of communication because before Communication Boundary Management there was only one other theory that studied self-disclosure, Social Penetration Theory. While both communication privacy management theory and social penetration theory are based in self-disclosure the critical difference is that CPM focuses on understanding “the conceptual idea of disclosure ” The theory evolved from boundary management to privacy management because Petronio believed that this name was more representative of the theory.This is because the theory explains how and why people regulate their privacy as opposed to their personal boundaries. Communication Privacy Management theory describes the ways in which relational actors manage their privacy boundaries and the disclosure of private information. The theory focuses heavily on the processes that people employ to determine when and how they choose to conceal or reveal private information. Through this theory Petronio describes the ever-present dialectic of privacy and openness within various relationship models, explains how relationships develop as public and private boundaries are negotiated and coordinated, and demonstrates how individuals regulate revealing and concealing information through communication.