Hi!

I don't understand why using a VPN would help with regard to privacy.
Tor should be doing the job here.  A VPN, as I understand it, only
forwards the privacy issue to a third-party (usually untrustworthy)
entity, the VPN service.

> You'll browsing speed probably won't support playing internet videos
> though.

Here you could use youtube-dl over Tor.  

~/.config/youtube-dl/config:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
--proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:9050
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

It takes time but then you can watch most videos offline afterwards.
Beside saving bandwidth and increasing your independance, that's a cool
feature on its own!

Emails leak metadata (like the people you talk to), regardless of
encryption.

We really need a replacement for emails... Anyone? :p

About Notmuch: to clarify, it's just the interface, not the hosting.
It's super cool, maybe the "easiest" to setup among Emacs clients (it's
still a bit involved), and I have my setup outlined here:

https://gitlab.com/ambrevar/dotfiles

> How to or which email client shall I use or email service?

Beside Protonmail, Riseup and dismail.de, I've also heard of Fastmail
and Mailo.  Pick the option that fits you best!

Another option is to buy a domain name at a service like Gandi:
https://www.gandi.net/.  They offer free mail hosting for their
subscribers.

Cheers!

-- 
Pierre Neidhardt
https://ambrevar.xyz/