“Women are also feeling a little nervous, even when they have the information to use helpline numbers etc., because of course, the minute you use that number, it’s recorded on your phone; if that is not your own phone, then it gets recorded on a shared phone, which means the next user or whoever essentially has access to that number and can just call it back. People are scared of leaving a trace.”

“Sex workers usually have a separate SIM card for their professional use… They take out the SIM and hide it every evening… So you [sex workers] could live in a household where people know that you [they] are earning somehow, but people don’t quite know how you [they] are earning… And it’s never been revealed… The truth is that sex work is highly stigmatised… There is a fear of loss of business. Basically, they cannot function because of the lack of privacy… So, we are seeing these kinds of cases also where online/​offline privacy is criss-crossing with each other.”

“There are many ASHA workers who do not have mobiles… They cannot even recharge their net packs. So we protested that the government would either give net pack recharge and mobiles to the ASHA or increase the incentive from Rs 4 to Rs 30 or 20.”

“The app is also not working well. Some people are not able to download it… If it is getting downloaded, then it is not opening. If it is opening, then registration is not getting done. It shows the webpage is not available, there are too many problems. The app that the government has created is not easy for an ASHA… No one can type that fast. It will take 15 – 20 minutes for an ASHA worker to log one person’s information.”

“E‑Mitra [service kiosk] [and] the bank’s representative who comes to the villages and gives money from the POS machine, they never provide all the details of the account, [they] do not tell the account balance… or how much money is there in the account…They say, ‘ you tell me how much you want to withdraw and go away from here…”

“People whose mobile number is linked to their Aadhaar, they get the message… But not everyone is getting that information… 

People do not know about [government] schemes, they do not know how much money is being received in COVID relief. If someone is eligible in 3 – 4 categories… They do not know which category the money is coming in and which it is not coming in… And it is also not clear which ministry is disbursing the money… The secrecy has been maintained. If the money does not come, then whom will they go to and advocate or demand… There is no transparency at all.”

“Most of the members of communities of the sex workers are standing on the road… They are in a really sad state… and I don’t know when they will again start their work and all so the situation is pathetic for the trans sex workers, migrant trans labour, bar dancers, trans beggars etc…”

“Is the technological development for mankind? Or [is] the technological development for the few people who have some ability and who get some systematic privilege?”

“Our street was so sealed off that people were scared to peep out of their windows. At every step, there were police present, and drones were being flown overhead constantly. From 10 am in the morning till 11 – 12 pm at night. Police were also beating up people using batons and sticks. They beat up a woman, I saw it myself… It’s not written anywhere that I am going for work. That’s why we were afraid. But because of the profession I am in, I cannot ignore my duty. So I took God’s name and left…”

“I completed the work I went for, and they left me back where they had picked me up from. The drone was constantly flying, it didn’t stop even for a bit… We kept some distance [between each other] while walking. [The phone call] came at night, the street lights were off, so we took advantage of that and walked close to the walls of the houses.”

“You don’t want your data to get stolen but the driver’s data is bound to get stolen. Rich people do not have the Aarogya Setu app. Even less people who belong to the middle class have it. Only the ​‘lower category’ people, ​‘third class’ citizens, who are daily wage earners… they have it… The richest do not use it. Don’t they know about the app? Do they not trust the app? Do they have a fear that their data will get stolen? Do they think that the app will reveal who they are meeting, mingling, or travelling with?”

“You tell me, if a passenger enters my car, they don’t have the Aarogya Setu app, how will I know whether they are [COVID-19] negative or positive?”

“My name was on a list with almost 850 other people. I didn’t even know my name was on it, somebody told me that ​‘your name is also there on the list’. So, I was puzzled, that even if my name was there, how did it become public? They should have called me and told me that ​‘you are on the list, are you okay’? They did eventually, but after they made the list public.”

“Once there was a call from a CID officer, he asked for my passport number… I think they kept a watch on me… They are keeping an eye on me, I felt… They can stop me from foreign travel, they can stop me from going anywhere… If they have a database, they can find me.”

“Just the fact that we are also using the term policing implies that there is a certain amount of violence that is ingrained in that function and just generally the way that the policing in India is structured, a system that is systematically used to target marginalized communities…”

“Because, if the same body that is required to maintain ​“law and order” and discharge all other functions in the roles of healthcare, service providers, social workers, so on and so forth, then there are bound to be problems.”