On the issue of licensing cloud services

Digital infrastructure, under modern conditions, is becoming a key element in ensuring digital sovereignty, national security, and technological independence of the state. Cloud services play a significant role in its functioning, being used for data processing in government information systems, the financial sector, critical information infrastructure, and other socially and economically significant areas. The subject of the study is public relations in the field of legal regulation of cloud services as an infrastructural element of the digital economy, which ensures the functioning of government information systems, critical information infrastructure objects, economically significant areas, as well as socially significant sectors. Special attention is given to the problem of the absence of systematic legal regulation and a special legal regime for the activities of cloud providers, given the appropriate level of potential risks. The methodological basis of the study comprises a set of general scientific and specialized scientific methods of knowledge: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, formal-legal, system-structural, and comparative-legal methods. Their combined application allowed for a comprehensive analysis of the current legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of information technology, identifying gaps in the legal regulation of cloud services. The scientific novelty of the research lies in substantiating the necessity of forming a licensing legal mechanism for regulating cloud services, considering their infrastructural nature and potential systemic risks. A concept for licensing cloud services is proposed, based on differentiation by risk level, highlighting a category of high-risk cloud platforms. The practical significance of the study consists in the possibility of using the proposed approach to improve the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of digital infrastructure regulation, as well as in developing subordinate regulatory legal acts that establish requirements for the activities of cloud providers. It is substantiated that the implementation of the proposed mechanism will provide a balance between the need for state control and the preservation of conditions for the development of digital technologies. Thus, the level of legal certainty, stability, and security of the digital infrastructure will increase.