So you do think Facebook and enough to safeguard the data?
I mean, Facebook didn't really do anything
to safeguard the data.
There were a lot of apps at the time
that we're pulling lots of data, including from friend networks.
And you know, Facebook wasn't exactly
proactive in asking questions or finding out
where that data went.
What I do know is that Facebook has known
about it since at least 2015.
And they got in touch with me in August 2016 about the data set.
It is sort of an existential question for Facebook.
Do they want to be a data harvesting company
or do they want to be a community of users?
And I think that's a really fundamental question
that Facebook has to ask.
Do you think-- and then Chris, as well--
that Facebook has handled this issue well?
No.
They banned him.
You know?
Chris can answer to that.
But they banned him from Facebook
for being a whistleblower.
And that's ridiculous.
Even in terms of here, in terms of this country,
in terms of Britain, regarding Brexit, with me
as a whistleblower, it hasn't been, OK, let's listen.
It's been, shut them down.
What I've been asking Facebook consistently,
day after day after day, is, why don't we
sit down and talk about the vulnerabilities of your system
and work together to figure out ways to improve it
so that you as a company can be a good corporate citizen
and work to improve mistakes that were made on all sides?
But I think their reaction as the company has been,
you know, to not embrace criticism.
Do you think social media data should not be
used in political campaigning?
Not the way that it has been in the past few years, no.
I don't think so.
I think it's the way that--
you put more of yourself on the internet
than you show in real life.
You're more of yourself on the web
that you present to other people.
And we sort of have this sense of importance
that we show and give to someone in a conversation
as much as we want to give.
You know, that's our decision.
But online, you can't do that.
And so what gives someone else a right
to take all of your identity and sort of decide
how to use it against you?
Being able to use some form of targeting, I think,
is helpful in politics in the sense that me, as a campaign,
better understanding something that
impacts you more than others and me
addressing that issue with you is a fundamental aspect
of democracy in the sense that it
is a way of me listening to you and a way of me engaging you
on something that matters to you.
But that can be done in a way that
respects the consent of the individual
and is not done in a way that is manipulative or opaque.
Do you think there should be a second referendum?
To be honest, I hate the idea.
I hate the idea because it makes me sound like Ramona.
I don't want to be a Ramona because I'm a proud Brexiteer.
But what other option is there, that we go ahead with something
that was based on cheating?
I worked my ass off for vote leave.
I worked my ass off to win that referendum.
And I was proud of winning that referendum until realising
afterwards that, actually, I was used.
If we are making a permanent, irreversible change
the constitutional settlement of Britain,
we need to be confident that this
is a result that was won with the consent of people
without the influence of money.
The only way that you can be sure
that the British people indeed want to do this
is a second vote.
Because if we have a second vote,
it may be that Britain reconfirms the first vote.
And I think that's fine.
I have no problem with that.
Reconfirm it.
Be absolutely sure.
It's an irreversible change the Constitution.
We should be crystal clear that this is what people want.
And how will you campaign if there's a second referendum?
I'm a euro sceptic.
I still am a euro sceptic.
I'd be on the Brexit team, hands down, no doubt about that.
You know, again, this is not about leave or remain,
this is about the integrity of our democratic process,
and how, in my view, should not be permanently
changing the foundational law of this country
if there is any shroud of doubt about the legality
of the process that was done to do that.