Actually, with a VPN, you need to trust the VPN provider AND the site you're connecting to...

And not even then. Most VPN providers in the top 10 are actually very shady and their organizational structure is quite opaque.. to say the least. I wouldn't be surprised if at least half of the top providers are actually FBI fronts, like the ANOM chat app.

well you might have a reason to trust a VPN provider you pay for, but who is the customer for MS Edge.

The insane thing is that, because the VPN has a 1GB/month traffic limit, there is no way to enforce it unless they associate all traffic with a Microsoft controlled user identity. Cloudflare literally has to keep track of any sites you visit and associate them to your ID to make it work.

Though, I do believe that for connections from public WiFi it's somewhat of an improvement. It establishes a minimal security baseline of: "ok, we'll sell your data and let FBI snoop on you, but we won't inject trojans in your downloads and then hijack your webcam to create ransom-porn (though the FBI/??? might)".

It is so weird that they're 'VPN providers'. They're proxies. It's not really a VPN unless I'm in control, or they're providing servers in the VPN to connect to.

My ISP reserves the right to sell data on the sites I visit. If the VPN provider promises not to do that, it’s probably a win.

ISPs in Poland at least give you the ability to pay so they do not spy on you. It is very small (10%)but I have no doubt most people cheap out. Internet is relatively cheap here.