Some of the tiny VPS providers accept $12-20 up front for a year of service and might disappear before the year is out, but it isn't a big deal because they are so cheap.
I imagine they wouldn't know how to monetize the data, but if the market matures, there could easily be the same people behind buying data from Comcast-sized ISPs, creating tiny VPS and VPN providers that don't get any meaningful scrutiny in practice.
If you're serious about your privacy, the first thing you'd want to do would be to use a reputable VPS provider. $60/yr for a DigitalOcean droplet isn't terribly expensive.
I imagine they wouldn't know how to monetize the data, but if the market matures, there could easily be the same people behind buying data from Comcast-sized ISPs, creating tiny VPS and VPN providers that don't get any meaningful scrutiny in practice.