What is the EU Digital Omnibus?

It is a European Commission package proposing updates that interact with GDPR, including definitions of personal data and rules for automated decision-making. Supervisors argue parts may narrow rights. Investors should watch how consent, profiling, and inferred data are treated, since these areas affect ad targeting, AI workflows, and compliance costs.

How could GDPR changes affect AI and advertising economics?

Looser rules could enable broader data reuse for training models and improve targeting, lifting conversion and margins. Tighter rules would keep strong consent and limits on profiling, capping data flows and raising engineering costs. Either outcome reshapes risk premiums for platforms that monetise traffic and for vendors supplying AI infrastructure.

What is the EDPB joint opinion and why does it matter?

The EDPB, with the EDPS, issued a joint opinion warning the proposals could weaken safeguards around personal data and automated decision-making. Their view influences how lawmakers revise drafts and how regulators enforce rules later. Markets treat this as a signal for future compliance intensity and litigation risk.

How sensitive is the Nasdaq-100 to data privacy regulations?

Very. Many constituents rely on user data, ad stacks, and AI training pipelines. Softer rules can support revenue per user and operating margins. Stricter enforcement can slow feature rollouts, raise costs, and sustain legal overhangs. Price trading below the 50-day average and RSI near 40 show caution is priced in.

What should Australian investors monitor next?

Follow revisions to the Digital Omnibus, any Parliament input, and updates from the EDPB. On earnings calls, track consent rates, privacy-related costs, and AI data access. For trading, watch ^NDX versus the 50 and 200-day averages, Bollinger bands, and ATR. Treat data privacy regulations news as a recurring catalyst.

Law and Government

^NDX Today: February 17 — EU Privacy Fight Puts GDPR Shift Back in Play

ByHuzaifa Zahoor February 17, 2026February 17, 2026

Data privacy regulations are back in focus for Australian investors after EU supervisors challenged the Commission’s Digital Omnibus. Their stance could reshape GDPR changes on personal data and automated decisions. Any easing may lower compliance costs and boost ad and AI returns for Nasdaq-100 names. Any clamp could keep legal risk premiums elevated. With ^NDX near key supports and tech leading global portfolios here, policy moves in Brussels will ripple through valuations and earnings multiples. We explain the stakes, scenarios, and trading cues to watch today.