Post Office Notification of Address Change?

I changed my address with the post office a few months ago. I put in forwarding from my old address to the new one.

All of the sudden, lots of people have my new address that I did not give it to. Not that my mail is being forward, but it is actually coming directly to the new address, before I have called these people to give them the address. For example, my bank changed my address without me giving it to them.

I just called the IRS to give them my new address for my stimulus check, and somehow they already had it in their computer system.

Does putting in an address change with the post office automatically pass on that info to other people? I am just a little bit confused, and concerned about my privacy.

My guess is that these agencies somehow contacted the Post Office and asked them for my new address, but I don't know how that stuff works.

Thanks!

Your address is public information to begin with; it is published in the phone book. It's not unlikely that the post office shares changes of address or that your bank (among other entities) requests notification from the USPS in the event that one of their clients changes address. If you are alarmed, you can try to un-list, but there is a plethora of information about you that is public information for anyone to know, your address is the least of your problems.

If you changed your address " a few months ago" then hopefully it would have been you by now that told people that you have moved. Many companies mark their mail with a certain endorsement which means that they wish, and are willing to pay for, your updated address. Also most likely your bank notified the IRS of a possible address change because they are responsible for sending updated info. for tax records.

yes, the post office shares your new address with the government. i work for a company that specializes in direct mail fundraising and every 4 months or so we get a new version of a software program that has updated lists from each county we do mail in. So i would assume that since we are quite a small company and get updated lists of moves and such i would think that the irs and bank does the same thing. Hope this helps.