@Sparrow , I’m going to answer publicly, so others can benefit to hear.

Ctemplar was an iceland email provider that shut down due to refusing to hand over data.
But Protonmail stays open because they hand over thousands a year.

When we designed our VPS combo, we did so with the intention that each customer gets a different account that is not related to us or other customers.  This prevents any government from forcing us to hand over data or compromise privacy because we are not tied to any particular location,  And it’s unclear who is even our customer.

This is the only way for us not to share the fate of Ctemplar or Protonmail.  Because while a VPN company can say they don’t log, there’s no way for an email provider to dodge that they have emails coming in.  

And with Nostr, Tor Onions, SimpleX, Session, cryptocurrency, and other tools, this makes us even so more independent of even any particular website server to advertise.  Or any fiat bank to collect.

While it is less profitable for us to setup a VPS with a third party and walk away (because we don’t collect monthly fees), it gives me a sense of purpose to provide something of value that the market lacks.

As far as your 2nd question of public recommendations, please refer to: simplifiedprivacy.com/vps which has our list, although some providers need to be updated.

nostr:nevent1qqsrdsy2nkhzqr6345xcyffn9h8aehu0ux9cekak06tvcvskxgmrc2qpzamhxue69uhky6t5vdhkjmn9wgh8xmmrd9skctcpzpmhxue69uhk2tnwdaejumr0dshszrnhwden5te0dehhxtnvdakz7tlt3h3 

 I miss Mynymbox.io in your list 😉
 

 But be careful with your statement that VPS providers are more secure than Protonmail etc. They can also hand over a lot of data and even the server image.  

 Thank you very much!  I appreciate all the value you bring to Nostr!