Calling it "eSIM" is BS marketing. Every time I've used them it's been painful. I don't know the details but it absolutely is not "SIM technology". "eSIM" is something completely different.

A regular SIM: you just pop a SIM card into your phone and it just God damn works.

But eSIMs? I've used eSIMs from five carriers in three different countries and every time there is some issue:

* "Oh you need our god awful app to install an eSIM" (of course I couldn't easily download it because Google play geo hides apps).

* "If your phone is stolen overseas you can simply use this QR barcode again to register an eSIM to a new phone" (I couldn't).

* "Works with all phones". (It didn't because phone manufacturers have to bake Telco specific data into your phones firmware. Not supported? You're shit out of luck).

I could go on..

The fact that there are now privacy and security issues is not surprisingly at all. This isn't teetching issues. The drafters of the eSIM standard should be publicly flogged.

It's an emulated sim card, it really does emulate that weird little Java processor and everything. It's totally "SIM technology" in that sense, even if it's not conventient because of the restrictions of the emulation device.