diff --git a/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/packages/jarvos-secondbrain-notes/src/knowledge-optimizer.js b/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/packages/jarvos-secondbrain-notes/src/knowledge-optimizer.js
index 780df3ba..acc9b5ac 100644
--- a/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/packages/jarvos-secondbrain-notes/src/knowledge-optimizer.js
+++ b/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/packages/jarvos-secondbrain-notes/src/knowledge-optimizer.js
@@ -210,6 +210,10 @@ function booleanish(value) {
 
 function sensitivityFor({ filePath, body, frontmatter }) {
   const tags = parseList(frontmatter.tags || frontmatter.tag || '');
+  const declaredPrivacyTier = String(frontmatter.privacy_tier || '').trim().toLowerCase();
+  const privacyTier = ['public', 'local-private', 'private', 'sensitive', 'secret'].includes(declaredPrivacyTier)
+    ? declaredPrivacyTier
+    : null;
   const haystack = [filePath, frontmatter.status, frontmatter.type, frontmatter.project, tags.join(' '), String(body || '')]
     .join('\n')
     .toLowerCase();
@@ -217,6 +221,9 @@ function sensitivityFor({ filePath, body, frontmatter }) {
   if (booleanish(frontmatter.private) || booleanish(frontmatter.sensitive)) {
     reasons.push('frontmatter marks note private/sensitive');
   }
+  if (['private', 'sensitive', 'secret'].includes(privacyTier)) {
+    reasons.push(`frontmatter privacy_tier is ${privacyTier}`);
+  }
   if (tags.some((tag) => /^(private|sensitive|secret|credentials?|medical|financial|tax)$/i.test(tag))) {
     reasons.push('frontmatter tags exclude automatic import');
   }
@@ -224,7 +231,7 @@ function sensitivityFor({ filePath, body, frontmatter }) {
     if (haystack.includes(term)) reasons.push(`contains excluded term: ${term}`);
   }
   return {
-    privacyTier: reasons.length ? 'sensitive' : 'local-private',
+    privacyTier: privacyTier || (reasons.length ? 'sensitive' : 'local-private'),
     excluded: reasons.length > 0,
     reasons: [...new Set(reasons)],
   };
diff --git a/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/tests/knowledge-units.test.js b/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/tests/knowledge-units.test.js
index f5afca72..d7077f57 100644
--- a/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/tests/knowledge-units.test.js
+++ b/modules/jarvos-secondbrain/tests/knowledge-units.test.js
@@ -125,3 +125,25 @@ test('sensitive notes keep local knowledge units but block downstream promotion'
   assert.equal(artifact.knowledgeUnits[0].downstreamEligibility.gbrain, false);
   assert.equal(artifact.knowledgeUnits[0].downstreamEligibility.memoryPromotion, false);
 });
+
+test('declared private privacy tiers block downstream promotion', () => {
+  for (const privacyTier of ['private', 'sensitive', 'secret']) {
+    const { notesDir, filePath } = noteFixture();
+    const artifact = buildArtifact({
+      filePath,
+      notesDir,
+      title: 'Covert Plan',
+      body: 'This innocuous text does not match a sensitivity heuristic.',
+      frontmatter: { privacy_tier: privacyTier },
+      created: true,
+    });
+
+    assert.equal(artifact.privacyTier, privacyTier);
+    assert.equal(artifact.sensitivity.excluded, true);
+    assert.equal(artifact.gbrain.status, 'skipped');
+    assert.equal(artifact.memoryWiki.status, 'skipped');
+    assert.equal(artifact.knowledgeUnits[0].privacyDecision.tier, privacyTier);
+    assert.equal(artifact.knowledgeUnits[0].downstreamEligibility.gbrain, false);
+    assert.equal(artifact.knowledgeUnits[0].downstreamEligibility.memoryWiki, false);
+  }
+});