Gen Z contributing to emissions by hoarding accounts

Many young consumers are unknowingly contributing to carbon emissions by holding onto online accounts they no longer use, according to research released by Veritas Technologies.

A survey conducted by the company found that 47% of Gen Z Australian consumers have online accounts they no longer use, compared to just 18% of over 65s.

Meanwhile, 63% of Gen Z respondents failed to recognise the environmental impact of the electronic versions of their account-related statements and other documents. But at the same time, 42% agree that it’s wrong for businesses to waste energy and cause pollution by storing unneeded information online.

Among Gen Z adults in Australia, 78% have entertainment and shopping accounts they no longer use, 52% have an idle ISP account, 50% have an online bank account they no longer use and 47% have utility accounts they no longer use.

More than half (54)% of Gen Z consumers have never tried to close these unused accounts, with the most common stated reasons being that it does not matter to them personally (39%, and that they don’t have the time (23%).

Veritas MD for ANZ Pete Murray said the findings show that consumers underestimate the impact of idle online accounts.

“Australians today have online accounts for almost everything — and with each of these accounts comes more and more cloud-based data. However, millions of those accounts likely go unused, particularly among the Generation Z demographic, meaning the personal data of Australian consumers is being stored without any use,” he said.

“This is concerning as the largely useless data sits idle in data centres, which are mostly fossil fuel-powered and operate 24 hours a day. In fact, data centres account for 2% of all global carbon emissions — that’s about the same as the entire airline industry. The unnecessary data hoarded in these unused accounts also poses a major cybersecurity risk for consumers.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Sergey Shulgin