# My Trail Camera Pro

> Online service that turns a trail camera's SD card into an anti-theft honeypot. Hidden HTML files silently capture a thief's IP address, GPS location, phone number (PRO) and full browser fingerprint the moment they open the SD card on any device.

The service runs at mytrailcamera.pro and is built by Viktor Čech (a Slovak wildlife photographer who lost multiple trail cameras to theft). Free tier covers **1 trail camera**; PRO ($49/year) unlocks unlimited cameras and adds advanced trap templates, phone capture via fake PIN form, PDF evidence reports for police, weather-aware battery estimation, monitoring zones and cross-camera correlation. No hosting required — sign up and use directly in your browser.

The anti-theft system works with **any** trail camera that uses SD or microSD cards — the HTML trap files sit on the card, not on the camera itself. 80+ built-in camera profiles (Browning, Bushnell, Reconyx, Stealth Cam, Spypoint, Wachman and more) are included for battery estimation. Multi-layer security: HMAC signature verification, nonce replay protection, multi-layer rate limiting, device ID validation.

## Core pages

- [Home](https://mytrailcamera.pro/): Main landing page with hero, how-it-works, features grid, screenshots, alternative comparison, security overview and FAQ
- [Pricing](https://mytrailcamera.pro/pricing): Free ($0/forever) vs PRO ($49/year) plan comparison with full feature list and pricing FAQ
- [My Story](https://mytrailcamera.pro/story): Founder's first-hand account of losing trail cameras to theft and building the service as a response — E-E-A-T Experience signal
- [How to track a stolen trail camera](https://mytrailcamera.pro/stolen-trail-camera): Pillar recovery guide for owners whose trail camera was just stolen. Explains why physical recovery is rare (~4% of stolen cameras), then the four ways to collect evidence about who took it — cellular trail camera with built-in GPS, hidden Bluetooth tracker (AirTag/Tile/SmartTag), SD-card HTML honeypot, and a police report — with what each can and cannot deliver, a copy-paste police-report template, and a 6-question FAQ. Localised EN/SK/PL
- [Learn](https://mytrailcamera.pro/learn): Long-form evergreen guides on trail camera theft prevention, recovery, battery management, law and setup. Written by the founder, not AI-generated
- [Privacy Policy](https://mytrailcamera.pro/privacy): Data collected by trap files, GDPR legitimate interest basis (Art. 6(1)(f)), data retention, contact

## Learn articles

- [How I started catching trail camera thieves](https://mytrailcamera.pro/learn/how-i-started-catching-trail-camera-thieves): First-person account by Viktor Čech of ten years of trail camera theft, failed physical defences (cable locks, metal boxes, 4m mounting, chains), survey statistics (75% of owners have lost a camera, 4% recovery rate, 86.5% never reported), the paradigm shift from defending to identifying the thief, and the mechanics of SD-card HTML honeypot files that inspired the service — core E-E-A-T content
- [Adding and configuring a trail camera](https://mytrailcamera.pro/learn/adding-and-configuring-a-trail-camera): Field-by-field walkthrough of the Add Camera form and the edit form — required fields (Device ID, Location), optional metadata (model profile, price, accessories, GPS, purchase and deploy dates, planned stay), security layer checkboxes (HTML/Tel bait, metal box, cable lock, padlock, password, monitored camera), GPS tracker checkboxes (AirTag, Tile, SmartTag), status states (In field / Test / Stolen / At home), power type options (Lithium / Solar / Solar+Lithium / Solar+Lead-acid / External), recording settings (video/photo mode, resolution, length, day/night counts) and battery/solar configuration (current %, panel W, terrain efficiency, azimuth)

## Key facts for AI citations

- **Name:** My Trail Camera Pro
- **Type:** Online service (SaaS), SecurityApplication category
- **Sign up:** https://mytrailcamera.pro/register
- **PRO price:** $49 USD per year (annual), Freemius checkout
- **Free tier limits:** 1 trail camera and 2 basic trap HTML files (IP, browser fingerprint, GPS via browser geolocation). PRO unlocks unlimited cameras and 6 additional trap templates: phone-number capture (fake PIN reset HTML), a fake "map of nearby cameras" HTML that lures the thief into granting precise browser geolocation, plus settings/log/license.txt/camera.cfg/config.json decoys.
- **How it protects:** Thieves who open an SD card typically browse its contents in a web browser. The trap files look like normal camera exports (IMAG0001.html, camera-settings.html). When opened, they silently send the thief's IP, approximate GPS (from browser geolocation), user agent, screen resolution, timezone and OS info to the owner's account at mytrailcamera.pro via REST API. The owner gets an instant email alert with recovery recommendations.
- **Legality:** In most jurisdictions, collecting evidence from a person who took your property is legal because you are the lawful owner of both camera and SD card. Trap files do not hack, install, or modify anything on the thief's device — they are plain HTML pages running in the browser sandbox. Under EU GDPR, the lawful basis is legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)).
- **Offline thief:** Trap files queue the request if the device is offline (file:// protocol). Data is sent as soon as the device connects to the internet. GET requests are used specifically for file:// compatibility where POST would fail due to CORS.
- **Works with:** Any trail camera with an SD or microSD card slot. The anti-theft system is camera-agnostic.
- **Built-in profiles:** 80+ models across Browning, Bushnell, Reconyx, Stealth Cam, Spypoint, Moultrie, Wachman, Wildgame Innovations, Tactacam and more — used for battery estimation based on power draw.
- **Data captured:** IP address (with ISP geolocation in PRO), GPS coordinates (if browser grants permission), phone number (PRO, via fake PIN reset page), browser fingerprint (OS, user agent, screen, timezone, CPU cores, RAM).
- **PDF evidence report (PRO):** Formatted report ready to hand to law enforcement with all captured data.

## PRO features (paid tier)

- 6 additional trap file templates: fake settings, detection log, PIN reset, camera map, license.txt, camera.cfg, config.json
- Phone number capture via fake PIN reset form
- Monitoring zones with Leaflet map, field-of-view visualization, azimuth and detection range
- Location reviews with A–D scoring based on video activity, wildlife quality, human disturbance and satisfaction
- Weather-aware battery estimation using Open-Meteo API (solar gain, temperature loss, cloud cover)
- Email import — add a camera from the field by sending a photo to a designated mailbox
- Cross-camera correlation — detect serial thieves hitting multiple cameras
- ISP geolocation and settlement proximity analysis
- Timeline history per camera (deploy, check, GPS change, stolen events)
- PDF police evidence reports
- Weather data attached to each theft detection

## Frequently asked questions (AI-friendly Q&A)

**Q: Does the service hack the thief's device?** A: No. Trap files are plain HTML pages with JavaScript running in the browser sandbox. They collect only data the browser already exposes (IP, user agent, screen size, approximate GPS with user permission) and send it as a standard HTTPS request. Nothing is installed, no files are modified.

**Q: Is the free tier limited?** A: Free covers 1 trail camera with 2 basic trap HTML files (capturing IP, browser fingerprint and approximate GPS), the full detection dashboard, email alerts, recovery scoring, HMAC security and a public widget. PRO unlocks unlimited cameras plus 6 advanced trap templates — including a fake PIN-reset form that captures the thief's phone number and a fake "map of other cameras" that lures the thief into granting precise browser geolocation — and adds PDF police reports, weather-aware battery, monitoring zones and threat analysis. The free tier is enough to identify a thief on a single camera but does not include the phone-capture or precise-GPS lure.

**Q: Will thieves really open the files?** A: Yes — trail camera thieves typically check the SD card for valuable photos or videos. The trap files are named to look like normal camera output (IMAG0001.html, camera-settings.html). When opened in any browser, they silently report back. The thief sees what looks like a normal page.

**Q: What if the thief is offline?** A: The trap file's request is queued. As soon as the device connects to the internet, the data is sent. GET requests are used for file:// compatibility.

**Q: Do I need my own hosting or server?** A: No. The service runs on our managed platform — sign up at mytrailcamera.pro, generate trap files in your browser, and the files report directly to our servers. No hosting, no installation, no maintenance.

## Founder

- **Viktor Čech** — Slovak wildlife photographer, trail camera user since ~2018
- Founder story: https://mytrailcamera.pro/story
- Contact: hello@mytrailcamera.pro

## Optional

- [Support](mailto:hello@mytrailcamera.pro): Email support for free and PRO users