Why so? ProtonVPN explained the situation quite clearly though I don't understand why you wouldn't trust NordVPN. Just because they are advertising? Or 'military-grade encryption'? They aren't misleading really, even if it is a marketing gimmick. And who runs it... Well, it is a caveat with most of the VPNs. Because of the delicate nature of them (cybersecurity service, various jurisdictions and such), you don't really know. It is a matter of trust, more than anything. I know that I trust them more than my ISP, that's for sure.
Running your own VPN doesn't really anonymize you though. And like you said, depends what you want from the VPN really.
You should know who runs a VPN in my opinion if you're going to trust them. Private Internet Access you at least have a name at London Trust Media, but Andy Yen has a public presence.
I don't trust anyone who uses "military grade encryption", period, even though it is just a marketing ploy.
ProtonVPN has their own data center of some sort in Switzerland. All VPNs are leasing the same servers from Leaseweb and friends (even ProtonVPN). They say it's in an underground retired army bunker, which sounds good for physical security assuming that's really the case. You never know for sure, but it's better than the alternatives.
VPN companies are notoriously shady, and I only trust ProtonVPN. I believe their service in _some_ respects is a cut above the rest, and I am willing to deal with multi-day customer service responses, DDoS attacks, and the like because of that.
I definitely think that it makes being alone more painful. I stopped using Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat almost a year ago, and I just shut down Instagram about two months ago. It made me realize how much more
I focused on how lonely I felt because I saw all of these interactions but it never felt like I was connected or intimate with anyone. I’m still lonely and spend a lot of time alone, but it doesn’t feel like it’s taunting me and driving me towards suicide out of despair.
