Today I got an e-mail from a friend wanting to share a photo gallery at CostCo’s Photo Center. I should have known that a place that has a cover charge just to shop in their warehouse would have also required you to set up an account to log in and view someone else’s photos. That’s right; you must have a CostCo user account in order to view anybody’s photo gallery.

I read the privacy policy: let’s see . . . spam, third party spam, and more spam. Sing it with me! Spam, spam spam spam! Spam, spam, spam, spam! Once CostCo has your data, they promise (in very friendly language) to send you a dazzling array of offers from both themselves and their “partners.” Oh, and they also let third-party contractors see your data. That’s a big no thanks. I sent my friend back a message saying I’d love to see his photos of Honduras, but could he please put them in a gallery that didn’t require a login? Loss of control over my name, address, e-mail, and telephone number seemed like a pretty steep admission ticket to see some photos.

It’s a good idea to protect yourself when publishing photos online. As a rule I never upload photos of someone in a public place or tag anyone in an image without their permission. That’s their identity, not mine. I don’t have a right to finger it. But there are plenty of ways for you to add photos in an environment that protects you without asking your friends to expose themselves.