Thanks for all your hard work, ElG, and I really do appreciate your efforts, but you did say "it suggests to me", "all this to me says", "seems clear to me".

But we're still left with this:

"A contact is a one-way friendship. This could be where the other person does not accept the friendship, a friendship request is pending, or you do not wish to be friends at this time but want to show them as a contact only."
That "suggests to me" that someone who has requested a friendship might be a Contact of mine. And Contacts can see private Albums. Remember that this discussion started in the first place because someone wanted to know why a non-Friend could see her private Album.

I think I can imagine how it's supposed to work, but has anyone tested how it actually works?

What it boils down to is that all the Rules, terminology, limitations, and anything else that effects how the site works, and what is expected from Members, should all be put together, clearly described, and put somewhere on the site in a single post, where everyone can see it at any time, and it's clearly labeled and easy to get at.

I have been asked to do that exact thing, and would appreciate any and all input from anyone who has the hard facts. No guessing.