Should New Limits Be Put on N.S.A. Surveillance? Re "U.S. and Britain Extended Spying to 1,000 Targets" (front page, Dec. 21): The National Security Agency scandal is not the mass violation of our privacy that the news media claims. First, the telephone data stored on N.S.A. computers is limited to logging when and where calls were made, not the content of the calls. Second, except for an infinitesimally small amount, the data is not examined by human beings. It is examined only if other data suggests a need for N.S.A. analysts to do a targeted search for evidence of a plot. With more and more people becoming aware of the violations to their civil liberties by the National Security Agency, our federal courts are showing signs of waking up to this attack on our Constitution. Playing a heroic role at great personal risk to his safety, Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, alerted Americans to a very real threat to the freedoms we so cherish, a threat not from outsiders but from our elected officials. One of the first steps we must take is to welcome Mr. Snowden home, dropping all charges of espionage and then having him, in closed session if necessary, unveil all the information he knows about the nefarious behavior of the N.S.A. Until that is done, whistle-blowers at all levels of government will have much to fear. Perhaps the best outcome would be for Congress to broaden the law to permit the National Security Agency to carry out the data surveillance it deems necessary or useful. I'm not sure what we gain by tying N.S.A."s data collection in knots. I have no argument with the proposition that the N.S.A. should comply with the law. But I would be surprised if a majority of people would choose privacy protection over national security if push comes to shove. As President Obama said in his news conference, the people asking the sharpest questions today about N.S.A. surveillance would be asking even sharper questions tomorrow after another successful terrorist attack in the United States. The government should have the tools it believes that it needs to protect the nation.