So it seems that yes - this is a generational thing :-)

(I'd be curious to run a straw-poll to find out how many Hackernews ever actually got "photographs developed"...)

I'm 34 and I've never had photos developed. When I was old enough (14-15?) to care about taking pictures of things I had one of those Sony Mavica floppy disk cameras that could hold something like, I dunno, 30-50 pictures.

But, on the flip side, every time I goto Walgreens there's people getting photos developed.

No, it didn't. But you took the chance the individual at that location was supremely interested in certain types of photos, whereas now if a '10x' developer was given access to a large amount of data they could zone in on what they want.

Upon writing my concerns out I am struck by how narcissistic and unlikely it sounds, but I still think I'd be a bit queasy when I click upload.

Well, the Polaroid camera was also a popular product during that same era. So I'd say, yes, people did care.

I never really took a large number of photos, when I did they were Digital or Polaroid,

and yes part of that was because of privacy