I normally answer something like “the salary range I’m looking for is x” firmly enough to show I’m not playing that game. If they continue to push I’ll ask them

I normally answer something like “the salary range I’m looking for is x” firmly enough to show I’m not playing that game. If they continue to push I’ll ask them to explain how the information is used and why they think it should apply to this role. Tbh if they’ve pushed that far though it’s probably somewhat soured the relationship for me.