I disagree - VPNs are not a solution for this whole issue, but legislation is. The whole VPN business looks shady to me, maybe Mullvad is an outlier and a good citizen, but for how long?
Make data collection transparent, force companies to have opt-in for it and fine non-conforming companies.
Dt. Telekom and Vodafone recently lost their zero rating business (StreamOn or what it was called), they're in constant search for new sources of revenue.
If I understood correctly OP didn't say VPN was the only solution and stop there. Instead, the point was more along the lines of: ISPs showed us who they are, we should believe them. Don't trust them, use a VPN. Does that mean that you can't legislate? Of course not. But it seems that OP doesn't want to wait until that happens.
Looking at these offers I see in ads, I really wonder if not soon they won't be doing the same. The discounts are really weird. As it seems regular price is nowhere near where the costs are. Or then they are losing lot of money in customer acquisition which will soon lead to this kind of behaviour.
Make data collection transparent, force companies to have opt-in for it and fine non-conforming companies.
Dt. Telekom and Vodafone recently lost their zero rating business (StreamOn or what it was called), they're in constant search for new sources of revenue.