True.

But consider that many major ISPs supported this unpopular change. Why didn't they fear backlash? Well, outside large cities, there isn't much competition among ISPs. And even when there is, there may be no privacy-friendly options.

Conversely, VPN services compete on privacy and speed. VPN services that pwn users will likely get called out in communities like /r/VPNs. And there are resources like https://thatoneprivacysite.net/ that rate VPN services.