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apologies for asking such a basic question but I'm having trouble finding a clear answer.

I want to send an email anonymously (I'll create a new email account). I don't want the recipient to know the state/city that I'm located in as this will give away my identity. There are numerous others who could send the same email that i want to send but they are all located in a different state to me. The recipient is an employer and will only have access to a office based IT person to try and figure out who sent the email.

Do I need to use the Tor browser to prevent my employer from knowing the location I sent the email from? Can I use my home internet connection while using Tor or do I need to use a public wifi? Are there any settings I need to adjust when using the Tor browser at home?

Thank you!

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first if you are not sure how to work with Tor and TBB, i would highly recommend using Tails!

if you use Tor for example your ISP can see that you use Tor, so if you don't want that, using a public wifi is not a bad idea... (although webserver, receiver, etc. will still see "you" are using Tor)!

that said, i would never login to some account while using Tor, that can be a bit risky for your anonymity (e.g. you just forgot once to login with Tor and you are done)! - or there are also people working with their "real-world facebook-account" while using Tor... that's pretty senseless!

for mailing i would use a remailer like these:


now to make it applicable for you:

  • for high-risk cases you should always do as much as you can for your anonymity/privacy! so use Tails and a public wifi... and send mails via a anonymous remailer you trust!
  • if you don't do "something risky" and just want to hide yourself against an average user, using a remailer you trust may be enough.

keep in mind: your mails will be anonymous but not secret!!! --> for that you need GPG!

by the way:
for just receiving mails anonymously i recommend the awesome service from the Chaos Computer Club: https://anonbox.net/

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  • this is a real good site to easily learn who sees what if you are using Tor. May 27, 2015 at 9:41
  • That anonbox link gets me a "might be a mistake; continue?" warning.
    – WGroleau
    Sep 5, 2015 at 4:57
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Gmail will conceal your IP address prior to sending your email address to the destination. Google will, however, know your IP address.

There are free email providers that you can access over TOR. By using their webmail client, over TOR, they will not know your real IP address - only the IP address of the last node in the TOR chain.

Several of these services exist. Protonmail and Tutanota are the two most popular services. Secmail.pro and nextlinemail.com are two additional services.

Disclaimer: I'm the operator of nextlinemail

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You don't need to use Tor for this. Some email providers, including gmail (and I believe fastmail too), don't put your IP address in the email headers if you use the web interface. You can test by sending an email to yourself, and then on the receiving end looking at the headers.

Unless you think your employer can get cooperation from the email provider. In that case you not only need Tor but also to be very careful setting up the email account, including things like confirmation email address etc.

The hardest part is probably to no blink or blush when asked directly to your face whether it was you.

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