Man Buys Ford Truck. Then He Notices It Has A BlueCruise Tracker: ‘It’s Privacy Invasion’

If you bought an updated version of your old car, you’d expect it to feel pretty familiar except for a few upgrades. When this F-150 owner got in his new truck, he noticed something that wasn’t there in his last car, and he had no idea what it was.

He asked commenters to weigh in, and the responses ranged from hilarious to rude to clueless. 

Ford F-150: What’s Up With The Blinking Light?

In a viral video with more than 2.1 million views, content creator Robert Vessel (@robertvesseltx) shared that he bought a new Ford F-150 but was confused by something on the driver-side door.

"It's pretty much like my 2021, except I noticed something the other day," he says.

In the video, he shows that the driver's-side door has a small black patch with blinking lights. The black cover came off easily with just his fingers, revealing a chip underneath with two blinking lights.

"What is this? What is this? Anybody, I would really like to know what this is. It's weird; the other one didn't have it."

The video racked up plenty of comments, including some ribbing him for not just checking the owner's manual, but Vessel had something to say.

"I think it's quite amusing, all you people that want to roast me for making a video and putting it on TikTok, saying that I should have just Googled it, or I should have looked at the owner's manual, or asked the sales guy,” he says.

He adds that his videos are “for entertainment purposes only. I thought it was entertaining, and apparently a lot of other people did as well."

Then, on camera, he checked the glove compartment, and surprise, surprise, there was nothing in there. 

"Nope. No owner's manual in there. Try again."

What Is Ford BlueCruise?

The blinking light is likely part of Ford’s BlueCruise system, Ford's hands-free highway driving technology. Ford states it's classified as a Level 2 driver-assistance system—meaning a driver's hands can come off the wheel on designated highways, but the vehicle still requires full attention, and the driver must be ready to take over at any time. 

It relies on radar, cameras, and other sensors around the vehicle to read lane markings and track nearby traffic, plus a dedicated driver-facing camera that monitors eye gaze and head position to make sure the driver is still watching the road, even with their hands off the wheel. 

Ford says the camera is active only when BlueCruise or lane-centering assist is engaged, and that no images or video are sent back to Ford during regular use. The feature itself requires an active BlueCruise subscription and a compatible vehicle.

The Six Levels Of Vehicle Automation

According to NHTSA, the federal government breaks vehicle automation into six levels:

• Level 0—Momentary Driver Assistance: The driver is fully responsible for driving, while the system only provides momentary help like warnings, alerts, or emergency interventions.
• Level 1—Driver Assistance: The driver is fully responsible for driving, while the system provides continuous assistance with either acceleration/braking or steering, but not both.
• Level 2—Additional Driver Assistance: The driver is still fully responsible for driving, but the system provides continuous assistance with both acceleration/braking and steering at the same time.
• Level 3—Conditional Automation: The system handles all aspects of driving, but a human must remain available to take back control if the system requests it.
• Level 4—High Automation: Within limited service areas, the system is fully responsible for driving, and a human driver isn't needed to operate the vehicle while it's engaged.
• Level 5—Full Automation: The system is fully responsible for driving under all conditions and on all roadways, with no human driver needed at all.

How BlueCruise Stacks Up Against Other Systems

In a Consumer Reports evaluation of 12 active driver-assist systems, Ford's BlueCruise scored highest overall with an 84, ahead of GM's Super Cruise at 75, according to Motor1 (note: this ranking is from a 2023 report, so it reflects that year's systems). 

Notably, Consumer Reports singled out Ford and GM as the only two automakers whose systems earned bonus points for using infrared cameras to actively monitor whether a driver's eyes are on the road.

‘Thats A Doohickey’

The comments section was full of theories about what the device actually does, and most of them were completely unserious.

“So there's this thing called a glove box, and it's got a magical book inside with literally all the answers,” a top comment read.

“As a licensed fork lift operator, I can tell you that THAT is the Flux-Capacitor…” a person said.

“It gauges the disappointment on your face every time you drive your Ford,” another wrote.

“That's something that needs some duct tape over it,” a commenter added.

Motor1 reached out to Robert Vessel via TikTok direct message and comment and to Ford via email. We'll be sure to update this if either responds.