Travel eSIM App Privacy Index: What 10 iPhone Apps Say They Collect

Nine of the ten travel eSIM app labels in this study report data used to track the user. Nine report data linked to the user's identity. Roaming eSIM is the only app in the fixed sample whose Apple label reports neither.

That is a narrow result, not a claim that the app collects nothing. The Roaming eSIM label reports nine data types in Apple's "Data Not Linked to You" section. They include contact information, purchase history, device and user identifiers, app interaction, crash data and customer support content. The stated purposes are app functionality and analytics.

The study includes Roaming eSIM as the declared benchmark, then adds the first nine other apps returned by Apple's public United States Search API for the exact query travel esim. The order was fixed before the privacy labels were compared. Every row links to its App Store page, records the app version and carries a checksum of the normalized disclosure.

Download the complete CSV dataset or open the JSON snapshot. The source labels and Apple search order were checked on August 5, 2026.

Which privacy result fits your connectivity decision?

The central finding: Roaming eSIM has the clearest Apple label result in this ten-app sample. It is the only label reporting no data used to track the user and no data linked to the user.

The necessary qualification: the result describes a developer-submitted label. It does not verify runtime behavior, network routing, account records or carrier data.

Key findings from ten travel eSIM app labels

• 9 of 10 labels report data used to track the user. Roaming eSIM is the only label that does not.
• 9 of 10 labels report data linked to the user. Roaming eSIM is again the only label that does not.
• 10 of 10 labels report data not linked to the user. None of the sampled apps displays a "Data Not Collected" result.
• Roaming eSIM reports nine unique data types, all in the not-linked section. Its label states app functionality and analytics as the purposes.
• Two labels report precise location. Saily reports precise location as linked to the user. Nomad reports precise location as not linked to the user.
• Six labels report some form of location data. Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Roamless and GigSky report precise or coarse location in at least one section.
• Data-type totals are not privacy scores. An email used for account access, a crash log used for reliability and an identifier used for advertising do not have the same context or consequence.
• The result is a snapshot. Apple lets developers update privacy answers without submitting a new app version.

Nine labels report tracking and linked data

Apple uses three relationship sections on an app's product page. The same app can appear in all three because different data types can have different relationships to the user.

Data used to track you

Apple defines tracking as linking app data about a user or device with third-party data for targeted advertising or advertising measurement, or sharing such data with a data broker. Apple lists exceptions, including some fraud-prevention and security uses.

The nine tracking labels are not identical:

This table does not say that every listed type is collected on every screen or from every user. It records what the label says the app may collect and use for tracking.

Data linked to you

Apple asks developers whether collected data is linked to identity through an account, device or other details. The developer can report a data type as not linked when protections are used to de-identify it before collection and the data is not re-linked.

Nine labels report at least one linked data type. Roaming eSIM reports none in this section. The range among the other labels is wide. Saily reports one linked type, precise location. Nomad reports eleven linked types across contact information, financial information, identifiers, location, usage data, user content and other data.

Counting the fields is useful for describing scope. It is not enough to declare that one app is safer in every situation. Purpose, retention, access controls, account design and real behavior still matter.

Data not linked to you

All ten labels contain at least one not-linked data type. This section does not mean "no collection." It means the developer reports collecting the data without linking it to identity under Apple's framework.

That distinction matters for Roaming eSIM. Its label reports:

• Crash Data
• Customer Support
• Device ID
• Email Address
• Name
• Photos or Videos
• Product Interaction
• Purchase History
• User ID

The label places all nine in the not-linked section and gives app functionality and analytics as the purposes. A precise description is therefore: Roaming eSIM reports collection, but reports neither tracking nor identity-linked collection in its current Apple label.

Roaming eSIM is the only label with two no results

The matrix makes the result visible without a proprietary score. Every app gets the same three questions:

1. Does the label report data used to track the user?
2. Does the label report data linked to the user?
3. Does the label report data not linked to the user?

Roaming eSIM is the only row with No, No, Yes. The other nine rows are Yes, Yes, Yes.

🏆 Roaming eSIM wins this measured comparison. No other app in the fixed sample reports both no tracking and no linked data on its current United States App Store label.

The result remains useful because the rule was set before the labels were read. We did not choose nine competitors after seeing which apps made Roaming eSIM look strongest. We included the first nine other results returned by Apple's own search endpoint.

Roaming eSIM also has practical, source-backed context outside the scoreless label comparison. The App Store identifies the seller as ROAMINGESIM LDA. The Google Play developer listing publishes a Portugal address, and the Roaming eSIM website publishes 24/7 support, WhatsApp help and app controls for monitoring and managing plans. These are service facts, not privacy findings, so they do not change the label result.

What the index adds beyond eSIM privacy headlines

The strongest academic work in this search cluster asks a different question. The 2025 USENIX Security paper "eSIMplicity or eSIMplification?" investigates routing transparency, reseller access and eSIM profile control. Its researchers purchased profiles and used network and testbed evidence.

That work cannot be replaced by an app-label study. This index cannot tell you where traffic exits, which carrier infrastructure handles it, whether a profile can be deleted cleanly or what a reseller API can access.

The reverse is also true. A network-routing story does not show what the provider's iPhone app says it collects for tracking, which data it links to identity or which version was live when the comparison was made.

The useful decision has four separate checks:

Roaming eSIM has the strongest result on the first layer in this sample. Its privacy policy gives the broader account and service context, including contact details, orders, activation records, payment confirmation metadata, technical logs and support messages. That policy is more detailed than the App Store label because the two documents answer different questions.

For the connectivity layer, open the current plan rather than inferring coverage from a privacy result. A traveler can compare a global Roaming eSIM, Europe Roaming eSIM, North America Roaming eSIM or Asia Roaming eSIM based on the route. Check supported countries, data, validity, network, hotspot rules, activation timing and reloadability before purchase.

How to read Apple App Privacy labels accurately

Apple says the label is intended to help users understand what an app may collect, whether that data is linked to them and whether it is used to track them. Developers must include their own practices and those of third-party partners whose code is integrated into the app.

"Collected" has a specific meaning

Apple describes collection as transmitting data off the device in a way that lets the developer or a partner access it for longer than needed to service a real-time request. Data processed only on the device does not count as collected under that definition.

Some disclosures can be optional

Apple permits optional disclosure only when all stated conditions are met. The data must not be used for tracking, advertising or marketing; collection must be infrequent and outside the app's primary functionality; and the user must knowingly provide it each time. This is one reason an absent field should be read as "not reported under Apple's rules," not proof that the data can never leave the device under any circumstance.

The developer owns the answer

Apple requires the answers for new apps and updates, but the App Store tells users that the information was supplied by the developer and was not verified by Apple. Apple also says a developer can update the answers at any time without submitting a new app build.

That is why this study records a check date, version and source URL for every row. A current comparison needs to be repeatable, and an old screenshot should not be presented as if it still describes the live label.

Ten questions travelers ask about eSIM app privacy

Public Reddit discussions were used to identify the questions below. They were not used to classify any app. The study answers only the parts supported by Apple label data.

Do travel eSIM apps track users?

Nine of the ten sampled labels report data used to track the user. Roaming eSIM is the only sampled label that does not. This is a fixed sample, not a claim about every travel eSIM app in the App Store.

Which travel eSIM app collects the least data?

This study does not convert different data types into a single "least data" score. On the narrower relationship test, Roaming eSIM is the only label reporting neither tracking nor data linked to the user. It still reports nine not-linked data types.

Does no tracking mean the app collects nothing?

No. Tracking, linked collection and not-linked collection are separate questions. The Roaming eSIM label reports no tracking and no linked data, while reporting nine not-linked types.

What does "data linked to you" mean?

Under Apple's framework, it means the data is tied to identity through an account, device or other details. Nine sampled labels report at least one linked type. The dataset shows the exact fields instead of using a generic linked-data badge.

Do travel eSIM apps report location data?

Six sampled labels report coarse or precise location somewhere in the label. Saily reports precise location as linked to the user. Nomad reports precise location as not linked to the user and coarse location as linked. The other four report coarse location only.

Does rejecting Apple's tracking prompt stop all collection?

No. Apple's tracking permission and the wider privacy label are related but not identical. An app can report data linked to identity or data not linked to identity for app functionality, analytics and other purposes even when tracking is not allowed.

Is an eSIM more private than a physical SIM?

The dataset cannot answer that. It compares provider app labels, not the cellular profile technology. Both physical SIM and eSIM service create technical network records needed to provide mobile service.

Does the label show where travel data is routed?

No. App privacy labels describe declared app data practices. Network routing requires traffic measurement and provider infrastructure evidence. Do not use the matrix as a substitute for the USENIX study or a current network test.

Does deleting the app delete provider-held data?

The label does not establish that. Account deletion, legal retention, payment records and support history belong in the provider's privacy policy and deletion process. A user should read those terms and submit a rights request where applicable.

Is the App Store label verified by Apple?

No. Apple requires the submission and defines the format, but the product page says the details were supplied by the developer and were not verified by Apple. This study verifies the extraction and comparison, not the truth of every developer answer.

Study method

Research question

What do the Apple App Privacy labels of a fixed ten-app travel eSIM sample report about tracking, data linked to identity and data not linked to identity?

Sample selection

The sample was declared before comparing the labels:

1. Include Roaming eSIM as the named benchmark being evaluated.
2. Query Apple's public Search API with travel esim, entity software, country us and limit 50.
3. Keep the first nine other results in the returned order.
4. Do not remove an app because its label is incomplete, favorable or unfavorable.

The nine search-result apps were Airalo, eSim Travel, Holafly, Saily, Nomad, Ubigi, Roamless, MobiMatter and GigSky. The sample is not a market-share ranking, popularity ranking or census of the App Store.

Data extraction

For each app, the generator opened its public United States App Store page and found the structured privacy payload. It grouped records by Apple's three identifiers:

• DATA_USED_TO_TRACK_YOU
• DATA_LINKED_TO_YOU
• DATA_NOT_LINKED_TO_YOU

Within each section, it deduplicated and alphabetically sorted categories, data types and purposes. Apple's Lookup API supplied the app name, seller, bundle identifier, current version, version date and file size. The public dataset does not contain customer records, device data, internal app logs or private catalog information.

How each Apple label was classified

1. Tracking reported is Yes when the tracking section contains at least one data type.
2. Linked data reported is Yes when the linked section contains at least one data type.
3. Not-linked data reported is Yes when the not-linked section contains at least one data type.
4. Precise location reported is Yes when Precise Location appears in any section.
5. Narrow privacy leader is Yes only when both tracking and linked data are No.
6. No weighting or composite privacy score is applied.
7. The result follows the data even if Roaming eSIM loses a future snapshot.

Reproduce the dataset

The normalized source is stored in scripts/research/data/travel-esim-app-privacy-index-source.json. Run:

node scripts/research/generate-travel-esim-app-privacy-index.mjs

This regenerates the CSV, JSON and three WebP charts. To verify that the current Apple search order, versions and privacy payloads still match the snapshot, run:

node scripts/research/generate-travel-esim-app-privacy-index.mjs --verify-live

The generator creates a SHA-256 checksum for each normalized disclosure. A changed label produces a different checksum and should trigger a new dated review rather than a silent overwrite of the finding.

Limitations

The study uses developer-submitted labels. Apple defines the framework and displays the result, but Apple says it has not verified the details. We did not reverse engineer the apps, intercept traffic, inspect source code or test every feature.

The sample uses the United States iPhone storefront. Android Data Safety disclosures can differ, as can behavior by region, account status, feature and age. An iPhone label should not be copied into an Android claim.

Apple search ordering can change. Roaming eSIM was included as a declared benchmark and was not returned in the first nine results for the query at the snapshot time. That design is transparent, but it is not a random sample.

An App Store label does not cover every privacy layer. It does not establish traffic-routing jurisdiction, mobile carrier records, payment-processor data, legal compliance, security quality, deletion outcomes or customer-support performance.

The study does not rank the sensitivity of data types. A count can show how broad a label is, but it cannot say whether ten low-context fields are better or worse than one high-context field. Readers should use the section, data type and purpose together.

Cite or correct the Travel eSIM App Privacy Index

Suggested citation: Roaming eSIM research team. "Travel eSIM App Privacy Index: What 10 iPhone Apps Say They Collect." August 5, 2026. Include the page URL and snapshot date.

If an App Store label changes, send the current app URL and affected section to Roaming eSIM support. We will keep the snapshot date visible, document material corrections and regenerate the downloadable data when the source changes.

For the wider buying decision, read Travel eSIM versus roaming, where to buy an eSIM for international travel, when to install before travel and how to check phone support.