The Constitutionalization of information security in Russian Law: improving the theoretical model

Abstract

Research discusses one of the constitutional amendments of 2020. In accordance with the new version of paragraph “m” of Part 1 of Article 71 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the exclusive powers of the Russian Federation include issues of ensuring the security of the individual, society and the state when applying information technologies, and digital data turnover. The consolidation of the problem of information security at the constitutional level determines the need for a partial modernization of its theoretical model. Modification and revision of some of its components will lead to higher effectiveness of constitutional regulation and improve the quality of application of industry legislation in the field of information technology and information protection. The purpose of the research is to investigate the main directions of enhancing the theoretical model of information security in terms of constitutional changes. The employed research methods are formal-legal, logical, system, statistical, structural-functional, modeling, and forecasting. The outcome of the study can be outlined as follows. The research clarifies the concept of information security, proposes to generalize the range of basic subjects of public relations related to information security, expand their rights and obligations, highlight the constitutional and sectoral legal regimes of information protection, and strengthen responsibility for offenses in the information sphere. In conclusion the study argues that updating the theoretical model of information security of the Russian Federation should be carried out in the following key areas: firstly, developing information security targets expressed in strategic and program documents of the state; secondly, clarifying classification of information security threats; thirdly, expanding legal regulation density; fourth, strengthening the law-enforcement mechanisms of information security; fifth, establising and maintening optimal balance between legal, technical and ethical regulation of information technologies, primarily digital technologies; and finally, definiing acceptable and unacceptable boundaries of application of information technology and digital data in people's lives.