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Can anyone discuss the privacy implications here please? I assume to use eSim you'll be required to have a working internet connection - there are still many da

Can anyone discuss the privacy implications here please? I assume to use eSim you'll be required to have a working internet connection - there are still many dark spots in the world. What data does eSim need? Can anyone outline the data structures being sent from my device? It's still possible to access the network pesudo-anonomously with a physical sim, I can only assume a "selfie to activate eSim" is going to happen sooner rather than later.

ThatMedicIsASpy 5y ago
What about the OS of a normal SIM that you have zero control off. In Germany you are already required to ID yourself for normal SIMs. My father had to download a provider app to access a video call where he had to show his ID.
toomanybeersies 5y ago
I think it's a reasonable assumption that if you own an iPhone, you have access to the internet.
- aboringusername 5y ago
  Owning a device that can connect to the internet doesn't mean it can at that moment. We need to stop assuming humans can connect to an endpoint over a network 24/7 365. There are times when you may not be able to, for all sorts of reasons, make a HTTP request at a given moment. Networks fall over, riots happen, dictators just shut it off. Dangerous precedent to set.
  - cute_boi 5y ago
    Yea and many authoritarian government can simply block websites and if it happens to be apple asn? I think there should be fallback otherwise its going to be debacle.
thiagobbt 5y ago
You only need an internet connection the moment you're activating the eSIM for the cryptographic keys to be downloaded. From that moment forward it acts just like a regular SIM card.
Nextgrid 5y ago
You'll need to have a connection once when you provision the eSIM. There may be some way in the spec for the device to use the network itself for that connection, similarly to how you can make emergency calls without a SIM card. But even if you don't have a connection now and try to provision it, I'd assume the phone would just cache the SM-DP code for later provisioning in the background when a connection is available. Privacy-wise, there is no difference. It gives the carriers more opportunities to be assholes and justify some new hostile requirements due to the switch to eSIM, but once an eSIM is provisioned it behaves just like a physical SIM.

ThatMedicIsASpy 5y ago

What about the OS of a normal SIM that you have zero control off. In Germany you are already required to ID yourself for normal SIMs. My father had to download a provider app to access a video call where he had to show his ID.

toomanybeersies 5y ago

I think it's a reasonable assumption that if you own an iPhone, you have access to the internet.

aboringusername 5y ago
Owning a device that can connect to the internet doesn't mean it can at that moment. We need to stop assuming humans can connect to an endpoint over a network 24/7 365. There are times when you may not be able to, for all sorts of reasons, make a HTTP request at a given moment. Networks fall over, riots happen, dictators just shut it off. Dangerous precedent to set.
- cute_boi 5y ago
  Yea and many authoritarian government can simply block websites and if it happens to be apple asn? I think there should be fallback otherwise its going to be debacle.

thiagobbt 5y ago

You only need an internet connection the moment you're activating the eSIM for the cryptographic keys to be downloaded. From that moment forward it acts just like a regular SIM card.

Nextgrid 5y ago

You'll need to have a connection once when you provision the eSIM. There may be some way in the spec for the device to use the network itself for that connection, similarly to how you can make emergency calls without a SIM card. But even if you don't have a connection now and try to provision it, I'd assume the phone would just cache the SM-DP code for later provisioning in the background when a connection is available. Privacy-wise, there is no difference. It gives the carriers more opportunities to be assholes and justify some new hostile requirements due to the switch to eSIM, but once an eSIM is provisioned it behaves just like a physical SIM.