The Platform Question: Power, Accountability and Global South in recalibrating work relations, only to further entrench power in the hands of those who already possess it. Beyond specific instances of harm, these systems reshape societal relations, redistribute economic resources, and erode the democratic fabric of governance. Databases that monitor and control people’s engagement with public services, from the cradle to the grave, confer immense power upon those who design and administer them. The digitization of birth and death registration, social security pensions, public hospitals, and welfare programs has centralized authority in the state, while adequate legal safeguards remain absent. Digital technologies amplify exploitation by depersonalizing public service delivery and obscuring accountability. When confronted with systemic failures, public officials routinely displace blame onto algorithms or data systems, suggesting that the technology itself is at fault. This inversion of responsibility places the burden of proof on marginalized citizens, who must demonstrate the harms inflicted upon them by systems they neither designed nor consented to. The architecture thus encodes top-down, technocratic visions of governance, efficiency, transparency, financial inclusion, while enabling unprecedented surveillance, new pathways of exclusion, and a diffusion of accountability that undermines worker agency. Beyond specific instances of harm, these systems reshape societal relations, redistribute economic resources, and erode the democratic fabric of governance. 96 Yet this trajectory is neither inevitable nor irreversible. Across India, workers and collectives are reclaiming digital tools for democratic accountability and social justice, through initiatives such as the Jan Soochna Portal in Rajasthan, the Sand Mining Watch archives, the Coastal Resource Centre’s geospatial monitoring, and emerging “Early Warning Systems” against land grabbing in the Western Ghats. Legislative developments across states like Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, and Jharkhand, which seek to secure the rights of platformbased gig workers, similarly demonstrate the transformative potential of technology when conceptualized and governed by those it is meant to serve. Provisions such as auto-registration, transparent calculation of social security contributions, realtime disclosure of algorithmic decisions, and worker-led governance models illustrate how digital infrastructures can be reoriented toward collective empowerment. Platformed Lives: Technology, Accountability, and the Reshaping of Everyday Work The Platform Question: Power, Accountability and Global South To ensure that such transformations become the norm rather than the exception, the design, development, and deployment of digital technologies must be guided by a set of principles that place people, not data at the center of digital governance. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Rights Before Efficiency: Every digital system must uphold constitutional values of dignity, equality, and justice over the pursuit of administrative or technological efficiency. Lawful and Transparent Mandate: No digital infrastructure should function without clear legislative authorization, transparent purpose, and public oversight. Participation and Co-Governance: Workers, citizens, and collectives must be active participants in the design, testing, and governance of technologies that affect their rights and livelihoods. Accountability by Design: Each digital system must define who is responsible for errors and harms, provide accessible grievance redressal, and guarantee reparations when rights are violated. Open and Auditable Systems: Algorithms, datasets, and processes used in welfare and labour governance must be subject to independent social and technical audits. Separation of Public and Commercial Interests: Public welfare technologies must remain free from private profit motives; data collected for public good cannot be used for commercial exploitation. Plural Modes of Access: No service or entitlement should be exclusively digital. All systems must provide offline and assisted modes of access, with robust provisions for grievance redress and human facilitation at every level. Decentralized Control and Human Oversight: Digital systems must strengthen - not replace - local institutions and human decision-making, ensuring that people remain at the center of technological governance. Continuous Review and Renewal: All digital infrastructures must have sunset clauses and periodic public audits to prevent mission creep and preserve democratic accountability. Provisions such as auto-registration, transparent calculation of social security contributions, real-time disclosure of algorithmic decisions, and worker-led governance models illustrate how digital infrastructures can be reoriented toward collective empowerment. Platformed Lives: Technology, Accountability, and the Reshaping of Everyday Work 97