Multilevel Legal Model of Access to Information in the Digital Environment

Abstract

The article substantiates the need to develop a regime-based approach to access to information in the digital environment. The traditional division between publicly available and restricted-access information remains legally signifi cant, but no longer fully refl ects modern information fl ows involving state information systems, digital services, search engines and research datasets. The purpose of the study is to develop a multilevel legal model of access to information that correlates public availability, restricted access, confi dentiality, public interest, technological context and the risk of harm. The methodological framework is based on formal legal, systemic and doctrinal-analytical methods. The article proposes a four-level model that includes publicly available information, procedurally restricted information, confi dential information and information requiring enhanced legal protection. It is concluded that the level of access should be regarded not as a new classifi cation of information, but as an analytical characteristic of the legal regime governing the circulation of information in a legal and technological context.