1. It's likely he's storing emails on the VPS. This puts us back at square one. A third party has a copy of your emails. And we know email does not garner the same privacy protections as postal mail.
2. You need a domain name. That system (DNS), as it is currently implemented (i.e., everyone setting their root zone to servers they do not control), is highly centralized -- few people maintain their own root zone, despite being easy to do. Domain names are susceptible to false allegations copyright and trademark infringement by private parties, not to mention easy censorship by the US gov't. When you lose your domain you lose email. (Though you shouldn't have to: email works fine with IP addresses in brackets.)
So what's the solution:
1. Get a reachable IP (e.g., through ISP) or get a VPS. But if you get a VPS only use it to pierce NAT (how is left as exercise for reader - hint: supernode), not run a mail server. Don't store sensitive data like email on a VPS, or route sensitive data through it.
2. Use IP addresses not domain names. Alternatively, set up your own DNS that is available as a peer-to-peer service, or have your email contacts use a DNS server and root zone you collectively maintain: free domain names that you control. No one can censor your DNS (phonebook), except you.
1. It's likely he's storing emails on the VPS. This puts us back at square one. A third party has a copy of your emails. And we know email does not garner the same privacy protections as postal mail.
2. You need a domain name. That system (DNS), as it is currently implemented (i.e., everyone setting their root zone to servers they do not control), is highly centralized -- few people maintain their own root zone, despite being easy to do. Domain names are susceptible to false allegations copyright and trademark infringement by private parties, not to mention easy censorship by the US gov't. When you lose your domain you lose email. (Though you shouldn't have to: email works fine with IP addresses in brackets.)
So what's the solution:
1. Get a reachable IP (e.g., through ISP) or get a VPS. But if you get a VPS only use it to pierce NAT (how is left as exercise for reader - hint: supernode), not run a mail server. Don't store sensitive data like email on a VPS, or route sensitive data through it.
2. Use IP addresses not domain names. Alternatively, set up your own DNS that is available as a peer-to-peer service, or have your email contacts use a DNS server and root zone you collectively maintain: free domain names that you control. No one can censor your DNS (phonebook), except you.