Using your username is not the real problem @least not if you know what you're doing. Sadly most people attach a lot of personal things to their username like their real birthday, location, part of their real name etc... & they tend to use that same name on different forums, sns etc. & will tell others who they're too, & that's definetly contributes giving away your identity.
I'm amazed sometimes how easily some people give out their personal details nowdays. The internet won't forget (at least not easily). It's sad people have to be warned like this everytime & still some won't get it...
There're also already a lot of other criminals who wouldn't mind framing someone/steal your identity yet there're some people that're smart to make it easier for those people, since they think they're safe already with their basic knowledge.
For example. Last year my psn account was hacked & I'm very sure I never shared that info with anyone not even my family knows my nickname/e-mailadres I used etc., heck they probably don't even know what psn is...xD (i never share my account details) Luckily didn't have my adres etc. on it, but hell that was really a lot of stress for me dealing with those ignorant helpdesk people who didn't bother helping, but only blamed me, someone actually even denied I their servers were ever hacked etc.(yeah right..., we all know about the big hacking incident) this all eventhough there were others who had a similiar experience, but most of those people lost money & that'show they found out.
In my case my ps4 who was primary got deactivated replaced by the hackers ps4 (why my ps4 idk i barely even had any digital ps4 games) I was watching a video on back then that'swhy I knew I was hacked. I also never logged in on any other ps4 & don't know anyone near me with a ps4... They only told me to change my password & deactivate the ps4 via site yeah right I couldn't which is why I contacted them & they said they couldn't remove it either I was like wth, that's not enough since I had already changed my password together with my email before contacting them (those things 1st things I did after I found out). So I was stuck with a ps4 on my account for 6 months..., lol I'm still pissed about that terrible treatment as I wouldn't have mind it at all if that account was temporarily suspended/banned until the issue was resolved.
Instead of properly listening & give proper assist you will be seen as an idiot while you might be more knowledgeable than some working there, really it was something to cry about if you'd know how ignorant some of those people were.
I mean it really if I had my real name adres etc. on that account & I was hacked by someone who has access to that info & planned something bad like abduction I would've fell victim a long time ago... You often don't know who's the culprit in such a case.
This is why I dislike online databases that have your personal info on it, I try to give as little possible info to companies, since some don't care what happens to you in case your account is hacked/compromised & they will push everything on you despite them asking you for those details & while they're not keeping it safe. It also scares me sometimes how much some people underestimate the dangers of the internet. Those people also forget they can cause trouble/harm to family too. So people please don't forget it's not only the companies that can target you, but other people who're capable of worse too!
tldr: You can't be too careful on the internet!!! It's not only the companies, goverment that watch you..., there're enough crazy & bad people (criminals) on the internet too.
P.s Is it just me that's glad sometimes when some people were ever caught I'd say it's actually great it happened, before something worser happened to them or their family...., really some people are better off being caught for their own/family's sake! Ofcourse I don't mean to say it's great for their family to get ruined financially just because 1 rom was uploaded. Sadly sometimes the punishments for uploaders are heavier/higher than for criminals heavy crimes like murder rape etc..., it's really sad that this is possible.
