[ryanlol]

>But if you are just downloading the latest episode of Sherlock from your local hive of wretched scum and villainy, a VPN will surely help.

Then you should recommend VPNs for that specific purpose, never for generic "privacy".

>VPNs are only part of the solution of course (not using any social media, not connecting to any of your normal accounts, limiting VPN use to whatever it is you want to keep private), but you seem adamant that even this is not a valid use of VPNs, or am I misreading your posts?

This is reasonable, I use VPNs for similar purposes too. But recommending VPNs for "privacy" needs to come with a big disclaimer. "If it's something that actually matters, they won't help you."

If you do something illegal using a VPN in very many cases your local police department will be able to use mutual legal assistance treaties to search and/or wiretap your VPN providers.