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I just don’t get how the risk/reward works out in their favor.

The uproar if their malfeasance is detected is far more than the value of any information they would gain.

Wouldn’t it be far simpler and more direct for them to go to Google or Facebook and ask them to hand over everything they have on you, at which point those companies almost certainly comply?

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You're absolutely right, and I'm mostly kidding. If the CIA, or pretty much any three letter agency, wanted to inject something nasty into your internet traffic or infect your device with malware I'm certain that they could do it without uploading ironically named ebooks to their server and waiting for someone to post about it on social media. Still... from a risk/reward perspective, I can pirate this book from somewhere else just as easily

The CIA has zero legal power to make such a request.

...though I imagine they have several illegal methods.

If legality is stopping them then you have nothing to fear. They can’t legally hack your computer for visiting their public site either.

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