I gave up on LinkedIn, and just bought a professional domain and point it at a VPS with my portfolio and proxied contact info on it. Last I was applying for jobs, employers were much more impressed by that. Your mileage may vary.

Network other companies you could work for via people, old bosses, etc that you know. Get them to put in a good word for you and then give them a call and schedule a professional interview. I did this (not in the tech sector) and bypassed all the online job hunting bullcrap. I've got a really great job now that I'm happy to be at for many years to come. I'm even using a GrapheneOS pixel tablet at work

I've never found LinkedIn useful. Indeed is fine, plus direct applications.

Don't underestimate personal connections, either. Often, it's not what you know, but who you know.

I just work a trade. Nobody is trying to network with the guy there to rewire an electrical system in a steel mill. Unless it's to poach to jump ship to a different job haha

I've gotten plenty of tech jobs without LinkedIn, including one this year.

What is your concern about giving your ID to LinkedIn? You mention leaks of IDs, but is that the primary reason? If leaks, what is the worst case scenario?

For me, I think of privacy in terms of other people not knowing my business, not knowing thoughts or activities I don't want them to, and not trying to unduly influence me, especially using information they may have learned about me.

LinkedIn is inherently about sharing information about yourself publicly. It's saying, "Hey, I'm {name} and I'm a {type of profession} and here are the types of work I've done previously." So to me, having to give LinkedIn my id isn't much more of a risk than the endeavor of using LinkedIn anyways. It's giving away a little personal information in order to gain personal benefit.

I've found it to be worthwhile. Since a little over ten years ago I've changed jobs twice and both were from headhunters contacting me. I've also spoke to a handful of other potential employers via headhunters. I don't think they would have found me if it weren't for my profile. So I'd say go for it.

Also for what it's worth, I don't think the "ban" is because they object to a VPN so much as people are constantly trying to create fake profiles. Asking for ID is a way to fend off inauthentic users.

Lastly, if you're not already, I'd strongly recommend participating in a professional association. Despite potential awkwardness of talking with strangers, connecting with someone face to face is a much more effective way of finding work than sending applications out into the void. You're a real person to someone when face to face and participating in activities, instead of an email that can be ignored. In the group I belong to I've seen multiple people show up looking for work and find it.

I'm in the UK, and have given up half way through a lot of applications because the software they've used for the applications process is American.

I have the rare ability to not attach my career to my self worth. This makes it much easier for me to be happy regardless of what I do to get paid.

Honestly it sounds like you might be making things more difficult then they need to be. Does your threat model actually require you to take the actions you are taking?