Architectonics of a university’s open data legal regime

Introduction: openness is a new global standard permeating all spheres of activity. The creation of open data arrays by universities and their placement on the Internet has become a common practice both in Russia and abroad. However, a full-fledged theoretical understanding of the nature of such data has not been achieved, a regulatory platform has not been formed in Russian law. The abovementioned creates risks of violation of both private and public interests. Purpose: to determine the structure of the legal regime of open data of universities. Methods: general scientific methods, including analysis, synthesis, concrete historical method, systematic approach, comparative legal and legal-dogmatic methods. Results: the study revealed that the criteria for classifying data as open should be divided into technical, hermeneutical, and legal. It was established that the data sets that are required to be published online in accordance with Article 29 of the Federal Law ‘On Education in the Russian Federation’ do not belong to the category of open data. The authors have developed a three-stage test to resolve the question of whether research data is open data. The key directions, goals, and risks of implementing the open data policy of universities are identified. According to the criterion ‘(un)identifiability of the list of users’, two types of openness are distinguished and described: endo-openness and exo-openness. The paper presents proposals on changes in the legislation regarding the establishment of the procedure for licensing of open data. Conclusions: open university data is an object of information and educational relations in the absence of a proper legal framework governing the generation, placement, use, updating, transmission, storage, and deletion of such data. The creation of a regulatory framework for the regulation of these relations is a new challenge facing the legislator and requiring a prompt response.