Download Tor Anonymous Browser for Mac?

You’re right to be suspicious of how trackable you are with a regular Web browser and Internet connection, though I would like to believe that if you’re reporting something to law enforcement that your anonymity would be respected. Still, in some cases it’s better to be safe than sorry and for situations like this, there’s a complete computer network complete with special Web browser called Tor.

On the Tor site, it’s described thusly:

The Tor network is a group of volunteer-operated servers that allows people to improve their privacy and security on the Internet. Tor’s users employ this network by connecting through a series of virtual tunnels rather than making a direct connection, thus allowing both organizations and individuals to share information over public networks without compromising their privacy. Along the same line, Tor is an effective censorship circumvention tool, allowing its users to reach otherwise blocked destinations or content. 

Of course its primary goal is to enable people in countries that censor or block Internet connectivity to still be able to browse the entire Internet, including otherwise prohibited sites, but the Tor browser will also work for what you’re seeking too.

To start out, jump on the Tor Project site and click the Download link. It should correctly identify your operating system and give you a bright purple download link:

Click on it to Download the Tor Browser for Mac OS X.

After a minute or two you’ll have a DMG (disk image) you can open up in your Downloads folder. It expands to:

As the arrow suggests, drag the cool Tor Browser icon onto the Applications folder alias. Because it’s an alias, it actually maps to your real Applications folder, so dragging it is the easy way to install the program on your Apple system. Once copied, simply double-click to launch it as you would any other application.

The first time, however, the Mac will confirm you really want to open it:

You do want to proceed, so click on “Open” to proceed.

And… the Tor Browser opens up with a configuration question:

Essentially you need to identify if you’re in a country where your Internet connection is censored or you’re accessing via a proxy service, or if you’re on a direct, uncensored connection and just seek anonymity. Your situation is the latter, so click on the “Connect” button.

Now through a variety of relay services throughout the world, you’ll be connected to the Tor network:

It says that it may take several minutes, but in my experience 5-10 seconds is more accurate. Once it is fully connected, the anonymous Web browser pops up, ready to use:

It’s not going to win any design awards, but it’s definitely quite functional. And it has some really interesting tricks up its proverbial sleeve.

For example, time to reconnect to the Internet with a different identity? You can do that off the little onion icon to the left of the address box:

Lots to explore if you’re curious how Tor works, but if you’re just interested in connecting to the law enforcement site, you should now be good to go to a site like the Los Angeles Police Department’s anonymous tip page:

You’re ready to go and your anonymity will be preserved on your reporting too. Good luck!