Espionage

Espionage is a mechanic whereby a civilization assigns an to a colony of another civilization in order to gain espionage points. Each generates a single espionage point per turn and applies negative effects to its assigned colony, including a reduction in the improvement level and. Every espionage point counts as a percentage point towards the per turn chance of stealing a technology, where the actual probability is thought to be the total chance minus the of the foreign civilization. There may also a bonus afforded by the espionage level, which is reached by exceeding a specific espionage point threshold.

Espionage Level
The espionage level with respect to another civilization is the highest threshold exceeded by the espionage points. It could be that each level provides a bonus to the chance of stealing a technology, or this may just be a way for the game to communicate the increased rate of technology theft based on espionage points.