For many drivers, dealing with insurance rates can feel like an unpredictable and unwinnable battle against unseen forces who may be watching their habits throughout the day. One Ford F150 owner on Facebook claims to have discovered one of the methods used to gather data about drivers, and wants to show you how to keep your info out of their hands.
The clip from creator Matt Randolph, who goes by Mr Global online, goes into detail about past battles some automakers have had around the issue of individual driver data collection. Randolph doesn’t share how he discovered that his driving habits were being shared, but he wasn’t happy about it and wanted to let others know about the methods he used to disable the data-sharing capabilities on his truck.
“They collect all your driving data, your habits and everything else, and share it with whoever, mainly your insurance company, so they can charge you more money,” Randolph said in the clip that’s been viewed more than 1.3 million times. “If you have a vehicle that is or can be connected to Wi-Fi and you don’t want them sharing your driver data, you might wanna check out how to turn that off.”
Do Fords Tell On You To Your Insurance Company?
In the video, he shifts the camera toward the center screen and begins tapping through the menus in real time, narrating as he goes.
The process isn’t buried behind anything that looks especially technical. A few selections in, Randolph arrives at a submenu tied to the trucks connecting features, which are the kind of place most drivers probably don’t spend much time exploring after the initial setup.
That’s where he pauses and points out the specific toggle that he says controls whether the vehicle shares information about how it’s being driven.
After highlighting the setting, he flips it off and backs out, presenting the whole sequence as something that takes only a few seconds once you know where to look. The simplicity of it is part of what seems to catch viewers’ attention since there’s no special tool or workaround involved, just a setting that was already there.
For Ford drivers trying to disable driving data sharing, the process typically involves opening the Settings menu, selecting Connectivity, navigating to Connected Vehicle Features, and switching off the Share Driving Data option.
Depending on the model year or trim, the wording and layout can vary slightly, and some features may still be tied to Connected Services or mobile apps linked to the vehicle.
What’s less clear even in his own telling is how that setting gets turned on in the first place. At one point, he acknowledges that he may have agreed to something without realizing it.
That uncertainty hangs unanswered in the clip, opening up the possibility that the truck owner may be the one who enabled his data to be shared.
Modern vehicles often prompt drivers to accept terms for connected services as a sort of default during setup, and those screens can come quickly and be bundled in with everything from navigation features to remote access tools.
The question of when consent is given and how visible those choices are is already a sore spot in the industry. General Motors has faced legal challenges tied to the handling of driver data, part of a wave among automakers looking to collect and transmit more information than ever before. Insurers have increasingly leaned on driving behavior data to shape pricing models, whether through standalone apps, plug-in devices, or integrations tied directly to the vehicle.
Drivers Share Their Own Data Stories
As the clip spread, the comment section quickly turned into a running debate about what that kind of data collection actually looks like in practice, and whether it works the way people think it does.
Some viewers said they’ve avoided anything that tracks their driving, convinced it will eventually be used against them. “Their way of trying to find any way to increase or cancel your insurance,” one user wrote, while another added, “I refused the drivers discount hype. I figured they would hold every single thing against me.”
Others push back, saying the trade-off can work in their favor. “I have it and the only thing that has happened is I have gotten a discount every year,” one commenter said, drawing predictable eye-rolls in reply.
The most telling responses came from people describing how the systems behave in the real world. One commenter recalled a friend flagged for extreme speeding, which was later traced to time spent flying as a helicopter nurse rather than driving. Others point to more routine frustrations: “If you drive in rush hour traffic, you’ll have to brake hard at times,” one user wrote, while another said the app kept logging trips even when they weren’t behind the wheel.
Motor1 reached out to Randolph via email and direct message.We’ll update this if he responds.
Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.