Thanks for the info.

Also, it’s a classic case of “if something is free, then you are the product”

While I agree that it's sensical not to offer this, I think this statement is too broad. Protonmail didn't require any verification for quite some time, and tutamail used to allow using the free plan to sign up for services.

Since you mentioned that you grew up with great parents, I could imagine that there are family members with whom you could talk about this. Which would probably be even better with an actual professional involved.