Uploading and sharing geotagged photos I would like to be able to upload photos with geotag data to an online database that gives access to a controlled audience. 

For example it is possible to use Picasa with a joint Gmail account that the photographer uploads to, but the viewer will have the login credential to the Gmail account and therefore can edit/delete these photos.

Is there a way I can accomplish this?
You could do this with Picasa. Simply create an upload account for the photographer, (you could then upload from your computer or directly from your phone) and choose to share the album or individual pictures with the viewer(s) via private link.