Okay, my first reaction when reading this was: Who paid for your phone? Who's paying for the network service? Since in both cases it was YOU who made the choice to get and pay for it, you should be able to decide any time that you don't want to have and pay for it any more. So how could you complete your check-in without a phone? Oh...! That's right, you couldn't. So the government (or whoever demands you to sign in) should be the one to pay for both your phone and your service, right? Or at least get you a non-phone-device that reads QR-codes, and such. Wait, there is no such thing? Okay, back to square one.
While I don't think anyone would know or care where anyone has been, simply the fact of being watched is enough to start a protest. And as much as I love sitting in cafes or going to restaurants, that's where I would start - that is stop. And I am certain you are not the only one. I bet there are others who have stopped going out all together because of this. It's those "conspiracy nutcakes" that need to join together to get a serious movement going. Of course, that'll be a bit challenging without phones, and also impossible to meet in cafes, not to mention the reaction of all the obedient fools.
But as far as information goes, and asking for stuff that's nobody's business... There was once a time in my life, when I used to go up to complete strangers and ask them for their mother's maiden name. Sometimes they would tell me, laughingly, but they REALLY didn't like it when I got out a pen and paper to actually write it down. I'm not even sure any more what my original intention was. But I think it would be a fitting reaction to being coerced into random "checking-in".
I agree with you entirely - that's my issue. You can say that I have nothing to hide, but that's not the principle. I adore your example of asking for maiden names - although these days I'm sure they'd say: 'if it keeps me and my family safe from 'x' threat, you can have the small finger of my right hand and my left kidney'.
Right, but in such a situation I think it would be more than apparent that it DOESN'T help keep anyone safe, it's just a random intrusion into one's privacy.
By the way, this post of yours kept my mind quite occupied yesterday. In Mazunte I met a whole bunch of people who have left places like Germany or Spain because of exactly this type of high-control insanity. The good news is that in France (supposedly) they made any kind of post-covid distinction illegal. At least in Restaurants and stores they can't ask you if you're tested or vaccinated. So there is hope for the rest of us.