Generation Z, renowned for their environmental awareness and activism, are inadvertently leaving behind a substantial environmental footprint through their personal digital habits.
Veritas Technologies’ “In the Cloud, Out of Mind” report, revealed a staggering revelation that more than half of the data stored in business data centers is classified as waste data.
Surprisingly, a significant portion of this waste data is unknowingly contributed by 57 percent of Gen Z consumers in the UAE. These individuals admit to having dormant online accounts for various services like banking, online shopping, entertainment, insurance, mobile phones, broadband, and utility services that they no longer utilise. Strikingly, this percentage surpasses that of any other age group in the country. To put it into perspective, only 38 percent of consumers over the age of 55 have dormant online accounts in comparison.
Astonishingly, 72 percent of UAE Gen Z individuals hold the belief that their online accounts do not have any adverse environmental impact. Paradoxically, more than half of them (60 percent) express disapproval towards businesses wasting energy and causing pollution by storing unnecessary data online.
Offering insight into the situation, Ramzi Itani, Veritas’ Regional Director of the Emerging Region, emphasized the prevalence of online accounts in our modern lives, generating substantial amounts of cloud-based data. Despite this, a notable portion of these accounts, especially within the Gen Z demographic, persist in a dormant state, thereby exacerbating the problem at hand.
“The largely useless data that comes with these accounts sits idle in data centres, which are mostly fossil fuel-powered and operate 24 hours a day. In fact, data centres account for two percent of all global carbon emissions— about the same as the entire airline industry. Gen Z is arguably the most environmentally conscious generation that has ever existed, but without necessarily knowing, they’re also leading the way among consumers in creating the most carbon emissions through their dormant cloud account data,” he explained.
Dormant accounts across platforms
The study further revealed that nine out of ten individuals (90 percent) have entertainment and shopping accounts that lie dormant, with over a third (37 percent) having three or more unused accounts in this category. Moreover, more than three-quarters (77 percent) of Gen Z consumers have at least one online bank account that they no longer use. Additionally, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) have insurance accounts that remain inactive, while three-fifths (63 percent) have internet service or mobile phone provider accounts they no longer access. Half of the respondents (50 percent) reported having utility accounts that are no longer utilised, and a similar number (57 percent) possess healthcare accounts that have fallen into disuse.
In a positive turn, the research demonstrates that a majority of UAE Gen Z consumers (73 percent) have made efforts to close these dormant accounts, which is an encouraging trend. However, among the minority (27 percent) who have not attempted to close their unused accounts, the most common reasons given were the possibility of needing the account in the future (63 percent) and difficulty in remembering their passwords (25 percent).
Interestingly, this sentiment among UAE Gen Z individuals differs significantly from global findings. In other countries, the leading reason cited by Gen Z respondents for not closing unused accounts was personal indifference, with 33 percent expressing that it doesn’t matter to them personally. Strikingly, none of the surveyed UAE Gen Z individuals provided this response, highlighting a distinctive perspective within the UAE Gen Z demographic.
Simple steps to eliminate digital waste:
- Delete online accounts, images, and documents that are no longer in use.
- Unsubscribe from unnecessary subscriptions and delete unnecessary emails to reduce data storage.
- Encourage businesses to facilitate responsible online data management by implementing user-friendly processes.
- Encourage businesses to adopt policies to delete unused accounts within a specified time frame.
- Remind customers to close down their inactive personal online accounts and provide a simple process for account closure.
“There’s a significant information gap if even Gen Z is unaware of the environmental consequences of storing unnecessary data. We all need to be empowered to make good decisions about our online lives and digital footprints—or this issue risks snowballing into a sustainability nightmare. With the UAE working so hard to achieve its net zero goals by 2050, every single one of us has a role to play in addressing our individual impact and putting a stop to this negative trend,” said Itani.
