>Other articles have argued that VPNs are not a solution to a policy problem, because you can’t necessarily trust a VPN provider, or some VPN providers don’t encrypt your data properly. That may be the case, but that’s an easily solvable problem. And there are no monopolies on VPNs. This is something that a market economy can solve in a year.
It has been a few years since my Econ 101 class, but I suggest the author Google "market for lemons". Users have no way to verify the intentions of VPN providers as there is natural information asymmetry. Trust is not an issue that market economies have come up with a good solution to fix. The solution we often use ironically enough happens to be policy and regulation. So maybe this is a policy problem.
The market has come up with a great solution to some trust problems, like Underwriter's Laboratory. A group of experts certify any device that will have their stamp of approval.
There could be an identical service for privacy/internet tech. There isn't, but I'd trust an "Internet Underwriter Laboratory" group way, WAY more than a group of politicians.
Which is a regulatory solution. I don't know the specific history of UL, but the most common way these type of agencies are created is by the government or from within the industry out of fear of government regulation.
Read over UL's history [0]. It was started by a private individual, and is a for-profit company with huge reach and sets safety standards for devices in many, many industries.
So, while I can't speak to how these things _normally_ come about, this is a compelling example of self-regulation entirely outside of the scope of the government.
It has been a few years since my Econ 101 class, but I suggest the author Google "market for lemons". Users have no way to verify the intentions of VPN providers as there is natural information asymmetry. Trust is not an issue that market economies have come up with a good solution to fix. The solution we often use ironically enough happens to be policy and regulation. So maybe this is a policy problem.