- NEW: Snowden says his case shows need for stronger whistle-blower protections
- NEW: Snowden points to a report that found NSA's phone data collection illegal
- He says U.S. "can correct the laws, restrain the overreach of agencies"
- Now in Russia, Snowden is charged in the U.S. with espionage
(CNN) -- Months after his revelations spurred outrage about the state of civil liberties in the United States, Edward Snowden expressed hope for his native nation on Thursday, saying "what makes our country strong is our system of values."
"We can correct the laws, restrain the overreach of agencies, and hold the senior officials responsible for abusive programs to account," Snowden said in an online chat.
The former government contractor's leaks last summer brought intense scrutiny to the National Security Agency's surveillance programs, causing criticism of the U.S. government, domestically and internationally.
This uproar spurred President Barack Obama this month to unveil new guidance for intelligence-gathering as well as reforms intended to balance what he called the nation's vital security needs with concerns over privacy and liberties.
Nonetheless, some civil libertarians, members of Congress and others complained that Obama failed to go far enough.
Among other criticisms, they point to the fact that someone will still collect records of the numbers and times of phone calls by every American -- one of the most controversial programs revealed by Snowden -- even if access to the those records will be tightened and they may be shifted from the NSA to elsewhere.
Snowden echoed such critics when asked about Obama's speech in relation to Thursday's release of a privacy review board's report critical of the government. The five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board concluded the NSA's collection of data on nearly every U.S. phone call isn't legal and has proven largely useless in thwarting terrorism.
Board: NSA phone data program illegal
"When even the federal government says the NSA violated the constitution at least 120 million times under a single program, but failed to discover even a single plot, it's time to end bulk collection, which is a euphemism for mass surveillance," Snowden said, pointing to the review's report. "There is simply no justification for continuing an unconstitutional policy with a 0% success rate."
The 30-year-old also addressed some criticism of him in the chat, batting down a report that he violated his colleagues' privacy while working as a contractor by stealing their logins and passwords.
He wrote: "The Reuters report that put this out there was simply wrong. I never stole any passwords, nor did I trick an army of co-workers."
The U.S. government has charged Snowden with espionage and theft of government property for collecting information on spy programs and exposing them to the world via the media
But he has yet to face those charges, having received one-year asylum from Russia.
From there, he's continued to speak out to journalists and online. Thursday's chat -- coordinated by The Courage Foundation, an organization set up to support him and his cause -- was one such example of outreach.
The Justice Department is willing to discuss Snowden's return to the United States if he pleads guilty first, a Justice Department official told CNN on Thursday.
Snowden bemoaned the fact the government's Whistle-blower Protection Act, which he claimed wouldn't protect someone like him as a then-government contractor.
"There are so many holes in the laws, the protections they afford are so weak, and the processes for reporting they provide are so ineffective that they appear to be intended to discourage reporting of even the clearest wrongdoing," he wrote. "... My case clearly demonstrates the need for comprehensive whistle-blower protection act reform."
CNN's Evan Perez contributed to this report.
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