How Public is the Public Cloud?

Today, public universities, public libraries, public hospitals, national research laboratories, public schools, and local governments fulfill public obligations to manage critical data resources using digital infrastructure they do not own and, in many cases, cannot build or maintain themselves. Governments allocate resources to these institutions so they can provide services we consider essential, and for many, this government support drives specific obligations to their publics. Rutgers’ two cloud failures on campus illustrate a peculiar problem hiding in plain sight: Institutions now rely on the public cloud to meet their obligations, but the public cloud carries no comparable obligations. So, what happens when the public cannot work without this critical digital infrastructure? We crafted policy for telecommunications, electricity, railroads, banking, and broadcasting because Americans became so dependent on these services that they had become emblematic of what it means to participate in public life and belong to society. Public interest regulation should focus on dependencies, because dependence creates obligations to users that extend beyond any contract. What “public” really means is the question underneath all of this.