Amazon’s Wish List feature is a versatile way to tell other people what gifts you’re interested in. That might be a gift registry for a baby shower, or letting your friends and family know what you want for your birthday. But it’s also commonly used for online creators to receive gifts from fans or for someone in need to receive donated items from strangers online who want to help. Up until now, we could rely on Wish List as a secure way for strangers to send items, without worrying about setting up a post office box. But going forward, Wish List now runs the risk of telling fans exactly where the creator lives—unless the creator takes action.
Amazon is putting addresses at risk with changes to Wish List
As reported by 404 Media, Amazon is recommending customers that use Wish Lists to change their shipping addresses to either P.O. boxes or non-residential delivery addresses. The company is making changes to Wish Lists, which could reveal the address you have on file for the feature. By leaving it as your home address, you are putting yourself at risk of doxxing—or revealing your personal address to strangers on the internet.
That’s because Amazon is now removing the option to block purchases from third-party sellers for Wish List items. As such, anyone who buys items off your Wish List to send to you will be able to buy them from third-party sellers, and those sellers will have access to your delivery address. From Amazon’s point of view, these changes give buyers more flexibility over the items they can buy from your list, but that unfortunately comes with an impact on your personal privacy. But it’s not just sellers who will have access to this address: Buyers will, too, as they may see your address in shipping updates they receive throughout the buying process.
As 404 Media highlights, major shippers don’t usually reveal addresses in these situations. But Amazon’s changes mean that third-party sellers have it in their power to share this information themselves. What’s more, if the delivery person ends up taking photos of the package to confirm delivery, that could leak even more of your personal details than you’d want—such as what your front door or driveway look like.
These changes aren’t effective immediately, so if you use Amazon’s Wish Lists, you don’t have to worry about your home address leaking on the internet just yet. However, the company has set a deadline for March 25, so it’s important to act fast if you want to protect yourself.
What do you think so far?
Below, you can read the email Amazon is sending the following email to Wish List users:
“We’re writing to inform you about an upcoming change to Amazon Lists. Starting March 25, 2026, we will remove the option to restrict purchases from third-party sellers for list items. When this change takes effect, gift purchasers will be able to purchase items sold by third-party sellers from your lists and your delivery address will be shared with the seller for fulfillment. This change will provide gift purchasers with access to a wider selection of items when shopping from your lists…Important note: When gifts are purchased from your shared or public lists, Amazon needs to provide your shipping address to sellers and delivery partners to fulfill these orders. During the delivery process, your address may become visible to gift purchasers through delivery updates and tracking information. To help protect your privacy, we recommend using a PO Box or non-residential address for any list you share with public audiences.”
How to prevent buyers from seeing your address from your Amazon Wish List
If you have an online presence and want to protect your address, you’ll need to update your address in Wish List settings. Head to this link, then choose “manage list.” Here, you can adjust your Wish List settings to make it private, or to choose specific users to share it with. Otherwise, you can adjust your address if you have a P.O. box or alternative address to select.
