It partially depends on how much information is actually presented. I've been able to find the real life identity of a member based on just a couple of pieces of information presented in the forums, that included USCF rating. I believe the location was available in the profile as well, but the information given was enough to directly pinpoint the person.
Then you have some people that are much more open about what is shared 
In certain areas in life, one is frowned or at least discouraged to ask certain questions. Of course, this can vary a bit in certain cultures. Being that kaynight is from Scotland, he/she cannot be that different from me in values as my heritage is middle class (moderately conservative Republican parents even though I am a moderate Democrat)) German-Irish. I would never ask a person what their income was or what their sex life but I don`t think that any reasonable person would be offended by asking them where they live or what they do for a living. I have been playing Chess for most of my life and never met a Chess player who told me to mind my own business when asking them what their rating was! I guess the mores of the internet have their own special rules. And, perhaps, I am a little too curious about things. No offence meant to anyone. I just thought that it would be interesting to know the ranking (if they had one) of a person commenting on Chess in general.
Do not assume that because kaynight is from Scotland, you share common values or common anything. One branch of my family came from Scotland centuries ago, long enough for the Calvinist Presbyterianism to wash off; he's still swimming in it. My professional background is on my profile; with all the information supplied, a skilled investigator could figure out who and where I am, but this doesn't bother me. I can see the Siskiyou National Forest out my window, and anyone who appeared at my door in a hostile posture would end up planted there, with only spotted owls and tall, stately firs to watch the interment.
I'm not a USCF member.
My two cents. If you really want to know any of these things about another anonymous person the best way to go about it is to put your information out there first. That way you will get only sincere responses. If you want to know someones USCF rating, divulge your first. If you want to know someones address, give yours first. The ones that want to reply will, and those that dont, wont. Everyone wins, your questions wont get ignored as much, plus you will really get to find out who you have things in common with.
Dangerous to give out too much info. on the internet....you might be from Nigeria or some other weird place where you are allowed to rip off people on the net with no consequences. People are often not from the country which they choose the flag of on chess.com because they do not verify it here.
Wow! I did not know that I would cause such a furor! By the way, on my profile information, I think that I was rather open about myself. But I do understand that some folks may seem a little (or a lot, perhaps) paranoid because of a bad or near bad experience. And I also understand that a person can have a very good understanding of Chess without ever being involved in organized Chess, e.g., tournament play (rated or unrated). I have even met strong "coffeehouse players" who never even played over Master games!
its only a game...sheez!
As a 15 year old female in High School I try to stay under the radar and I dont advertise my gender. even had to take off my photo because I got so many 'friend' requests and challenges..So all I'll say is that I am in the school chess club. I like chess puzzles, logic puzzles and competing in math bowls
@StarGirl2012: You are smart not to give out any more information than you have already; the internet is a jungle containing hazardous beasts. I like math too, but I wasn't good enough to be a pro, so I went into law instead (really good). You're about to go to college and you might need money for tuition, etc., so if you like math, take a look at the six remaining "millennium problems" at claymath.org, each of which carries a one million dollar prize if you can solve it, and if you solve one of them, you can send me a ten grand courtesy tip. Good Luck young lady!
@BobbyTalparov: Well, yes, they are difficult problems, otherwise there wouldn't be a million bucks to solve them now, would there? A random 15 year old solving one would probably win a Fields Medal at the next go, but StarGirl2012 isn't any random 15 year old. Taking them one at a time, the Hodge Conjecture is beyond my comprehension, the Navier-Stokes involves chaotic turbulence, which is something I can't even model in my own house, let alone outside, the Yang-Mills seems actually more like a physics problem, but it's their money and they can do whatever they want with it, and the Birch/Swinnerton-Dyer involves number theory, which might be accessible to her, but I can never remember what the actual proposition is. That leaves the P=NP, which is a fairly straightforward statement in computational complexity which I believe that a smart young lady can understand (and she can look at Scott Aaronsen's blog for pointers) and the oldest of all, the Riemann, which involves proving a simple thing about the nontrivial zero values of the Riemann zeta function, which is an easy thing to write down, if not to understand. I believe in positive thinking, it took me only a minute to write that comment, and if she gets one and she remembers me favorably for bringing it to her attention, she might send me ten grand. It's like fishing, and I've caught bigger fish with less bait than I have now.
@BobbyTalparov: Well, yes, they are difficult problems, otherwise there wouldn't be a million bucks to solve them now, would there? A random 15 year old solving one would probably win a Fields Medal at the next go, but StarGirl2012 isn't any random 15 year old. Taking them one at a time, the Hodge Conjecture is beyond my comprehension, the Navier-Stokes involves chaotic turbulence, which is something I can't even model in my own house, let alone outside, the Yang-Mills seems actually more like a physics problem, but it's their money and they can do whatever they want with it, and the Birch/Swinnerton-Dyer involves number theory, which might be accessible to her, but I can never remember what the actual proposition is. That leaves the P=NP, which is a fairly straightforward statement in computational complexity which I believe that a smart young lady can understand (and she can look at Scott Aaronsen's blog for pointers) and the oldest of all, the Riemann, which involves proving a simple thing about the nontrivial zero values of the Riemann zeta function, which is an easy thing to write down, if not to understand. I believe in positive thinking, it took me only a minute to write that comment, and if she gets one and she remembers me favorably for bringing it to her attention, she might send me ten grand. It's like fishing, and I've caught bigger fish with less bait than I have now.
Good luck my friend. As someone with degrees in the field of mathematics, I would find it surprising if any of these problems are solved within the next 15 years.
(Laughs). I confess my relative disadvantage to you, because my undergraduate was in chemistry and my doctorate was in law, but I believe that young mathpeople should be encouraged, as I am doing, not pissed on. I agree that the first four problems I mentioned won't be solved anytime soon, but the last two could be solved at any minute. I'm sure you know the story of Yitong Zhang and the Bounded Gap that went from infinity down to 70 million just four years ago, and from there down to 246 (the last time I looked at Tao's wiki); I am too dumb at 62 to solve anything as complex as a Millennium Problem, but there are so many simple unsolved problems left, the Twin Primes, the strongest general statement of the Bounded Gap, is something I think will be obvious in retrospect, just like the proof that there are an infinite number of primes. Please join me in offering encouragement to the StarGirl2012s among us, so that they may enlighten us if they can.
On the internet, honesty is never the best policy.
Outrageous!
I hear you..I can imagine if there is a million dollars at stake there are greater minds than mine working on them full time..I have taken calc..I like math but I;m no genius...lol...Im hanging my hopes on a FIRST robotics scholarship
so if you like math, take a look at the six remaining "millennium problems" at claymath.org, each of which carries a one million dollar prize if you can solve it, and if you solve one of them
Not to discourage anyone here, but the remaining problems require knowledge of Partial and Ordinary Differential Equations, Calculus, and high level mathematical proofs. There are people working on their PhDs researching those problems, so a random 15-year-old would be hard pressed to bank on those for college tuition money (and frankly, if such a 15-year-old could solve even one of those problems, they would likely be granted a PhD almost instantly).
That said, anyone looking to work on their PhD can use those problems as ideas for their research.
If someone is good enough at math to even have a shot at something like that, they should have zero problems getting good scholarships to go to pretty much any university they want. Once in college, take the Putnam exam and if you are good enough, you can go likely go to any graduate program in the country on a full-ride (or close enough anyway).
I totally agree with you....I might add what if their entire chess(career) developed in State Prison and they have no USCF, let alone any club experience or rating?? However the player is strong... what then. Would you care to know that information?????
I really do not care about you or who you are! I do not want any information about you because any or all of it may be inaccurate or just lies. I miss 2Q1C because he made the forums interesting with his inane comments.
I am here to play chess and do not care about my opponent's personal life or background.
I understand that some people are a bit nervous about sharing personal information and not only is it their right to divulge whatever they want to and to what extant they wish to. Of course the administrators need to know more information about a member that will be kept confidential. I may be more open than most about discussing my background but that is my choice, naturally. My reason for even writing this note is to get opinions as to why a player who wishes to keep their real name private would not be willing to let others know, when asked, if they are or were a USCF member and if they ever had an OTB and/or Correspondence rating or any other competitive group. True, one could get a little testy and say that it`s none of your business but it might be interesting to see the competitive background of the person posting the thread or responding to one already posted. In this way one could judge how meaningful an opinion is, e.g., I would value the analysis of a Chess position by a Master strength player much more than a beginner player who can barely survive the opening of a game. Although I don`t want to call people rude, whenever I ask this question in back and forth discussions, most simply ignore my question. Why is that?