diff --git a/src/components/clinical-dashboard/answer-status.tsx b/src/components/clinical-dashboard/answer-status.tsx
index 34fd69b4c..c48802f20 100644
--- a/src/components/clinical-dashboard/answer-status.tsx
+++ b/src/components/clinical-dashboard/answer-status.tsx
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 "use client";
 
 import { Clipboard, ClipboardCheck, History, MessageSquareText, Search, ShieldCheck, Upload } from "lucide-react";
-import Link from "next/link";
 
 import { AnswerSuggestionChips } from "@/components/clinical-dashboard/answer-suggestion-chips";
 import { ModeHomeTemplate, ModeHomeVerificationFooter } from "@/components/mode-home-template";
 import { cn, floatingControl, sourceCard } from "@/components/ui-primitives";
-import { answerEmptyState, answerLoading, copyButton, privacyCopy } from "@/lib/ui-copy";
+import { answerEmptyState, answerLoading, copyButton } from "@/lib/ui-copy";
 
 export function CopyButton({
   label,
@@ -93,19 +92,9 @@ export function AnswerEmptyState({
               {answerEmptyState.starters.uploadDocument.title}
             </button>
           </div>
+          {/* No privacy link here: the composer's PrivacyInputNotice is the
+              single site-wide notice, so the hero footer must not repeat it. */}
           <ModeHomeVerificationFooter icon={ShieldCheck} label="Source backed" body="Clinical Guide library" />
-          {/* Keep the footer compact; the full privacy detail lives on /privacy. */}
-          <p
-            className="text-center text-2xs leading-4 text-[color:var(--text-muted)]"
-            aria-label={privacyCopy.noticeAriaLabel}
-          >
-            <Link
-              href="/privacy"
-              className="font-medium text-[color:var(--text-soft)] underline underline-offset-2 transition-colors hover:text-[color:var(--text-heading)]"
-            >
-              {privacyCopy.composerLinkLabel}
-            </Link>
-          </p>
         </div>
       }
     />
diff --git a/src/components/clinical-dashboard/master-search-header.tsx b/src/components/clinical-dashboard/master-search-header.tsx
index 29ff30d20..a955bcc44 100644
--- a/src/components/clinical-dashboard/master-search-header.tsx
+++ b/src/components/clinical-dashboard/master-search-header.tsx
@@ -68,7 +68,10 @@ import { appModeIcons } from "@/lib/app-mode-icons";
 import type { ClinicalDocument, ClinicalQueryMode } from "@/lib/types";
 import { type SearchScopeFilters } from "@/lib/search-scope";
 import { tagSearchText } from "@/lib/document-tags";
-import { privacyCopy } from "@/lib/ui-copy";
+
+// Shared between the composer input's aria-describedby and the rendered
+// PrivacyInputNotice id/testId so the wiring cannot drift apart.
+const composerPrivacyWarningId = "answer-composer-privacy-warning";
 
 const phoneSearchLayoutMediaQuery = "(max-width: 639px)";
 const scopeSheetMediaQuery = "(max-width: 1023px)";
@@ -1131,6 +1134,13 @@ export function MasterSearchHeader({
     const hasScopeFooterChip = searchMode === "answer" || searchMode === "documents" || searchMode === "forms";
     const usesPhoneFooterDock = usesBottomComposerPlacement && usesPhoneSearchLayout;
     const shouldHideBottomOnScroll = Boolean(hideOnScroll && usesPhoneFooterDock);
+    // Phone submitted non-answer result docks reserve pill-only scroll
+    // clearance (ClinicalDashboard <main> margins / global-search-shell
+    // mobileComposerReserve), so an extra notice line would push the fixed
+    // dock over the last result. Those flows already showed the notice on
+    // their entry composer; answer docks keep it (their reserves were sized
+    // for the old taller notice-above-pill stack).
+    const showsComposerPrivacyNotice = searchMode === "answer" || !usesPhoneFooterDock;
 
     const commandSurfacePlacement = usesBottomComposerPlacement ? "bottom-dock" : "inline";
 
@@ -1191,9 +1201,6 @@ export function MasterSearchHeader({
             className="answer-suggestion-row-composer-followups relative z-10 w-full sm:hidden"
           />
         ) : null}
-        {searchMode === "answer" ? (
-          <PrivacyInputNotice className="px-2 text-left sm:justify-center sm:text-center" />
-        ) : null}
         <UniversalSearchCommandSurface
           modeId={searchMode}
           query={query}
@@ -1276,7 +1283,7 @@ export function MasterSearchHeader({
                 aria-expanded={commandDropdownOpen}
                 aria-controls={commandDropdownOpen ? commandListboxId : undefined}
                 aria-autocomplete="list"
-                aria-describedby={searchMode === "answer" ? "answer-composer-privacy-warning" : undefined}
+                aria-describedby={showsComposerPrivacyNotice ? composerPrivacyWarningId : undefined}
                 // React's onChange already fires on every input event; a duplicate
                 // onInput called onQueryChange twice per keystroke, doubling the
                 // controlled-state work on a large parent tree.
@@ -1326,14 +1333,16 @@ export function MasterSearchHeader({
             </button>
           </div>
         </UniversalSearchCommandSurface>
-        {searchMode === "answer" ? (
-          <p
-            id="answer-composer-privacy-warning"
-            data-testid="answer-composer-privacy-warning"
-            className="relative z-10 mt-1.5 w-full px-3 text-center text-2xs leading-4 text-[color:var(--text-muted)]"
-          >
-            {privacyCopy.composerWarning}
-          </p>
+        {/* Single site-wide APP-5 privacy line: every composer variant (home
+            hero, answer dock, sticky search) renders exactly one compact
+            notice below the pill; no other surface may duplicate it. Phone
+            non-answer result docks skip it — see showsComposerPrivacyNotice. */}
+        {showsComposerPrivacyNotice ? (
+          <PrivacyInputNotice
+            id={composerPrivacyWarningId}
+            testId={composerPrivacyWarningId}
+            className="mt-1.5 justify-center px-3 text-center"
+          />
         ) : null}
         {/* Scope popover is a form sibling so the "+" menu's "Set scope" action can
             open it even when the footer chip row is not shown. */}
diff --git a/src/components/privacy-input-notice.tsx b/src/components/privacy-input-notice.tsx
index 359472336..6c7f53ef4 100644
--- a/src/components/privacy-input-notice.tsx
+++ b/src/components/privacy-input-notice.tsx
@@ -3,21 +3,28 @@ import { ShieldAlert } from "lucide-react";
 
 import { cn, textMuted } from "@/components/ui-primitives";
 
-export function PrivacyInputNotice({ className }: { className?: string }) {
+// Compact APP-5 privacy notice shown beside clinical input controls (query
+// composer, document upload). Deliberately one quiet 11px line — the wording
+// and the /privacy link are governance copy (PIA-5) and must stay intact.
+export function PrivacyInputNotice({ className, id, testId }: { className?: string; id?: string; testId?: string }) {
   return (
     <p
       role="note"
+      id={id}
+      data-testid={testId}
       className={cn(
-        "relative z-10 flex w-full flex-wrap items-center gap-x-1.5 gap-y-0.5 text-xs leading-5",
+        // z sits above the composer dock backdrop (z-0) but below the command
+        // surface (z-10) so the suggestions dropdown can cover the notice.
+        "relative z-[5] flex w-full min-w-0 flex-wrap items-center gap-x-1 gap-y-0 text-2xs leading-4",
         textMuted,
         className,
       )}
     >
-      <ShieldAlert className="h-3.5 w-3.5 shrink-0 text-[color:var(--warning)]" aria-hidden />
+      <ShieldAlert className="h-3 w-3 shrink-0 text-[color:var(--warning)]" aria-hidden />
       <span>Do not enter patient-identifiable information.</span>
       <Link
         href="/privacy"
-        className="rounded-sm font-semibold text-[color:var(--clinical-accent)] underline decoration-[color:var(--clinical-accent)]/40 underline-offset-2 hover:decoration-current focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-[color:var(--focus)]"
+        className="rounded-sm font-medium underline decoration-[color:var(--border-strong)] underline-offset-2 transition-colors hover:text-[color:var(--clinical-accent)] hover:decoration-current focus-visible:outline focus-visible:outline-2 focus-visible:outline-offset-2 focus-visible:outline-[color:var(--focus)]"
       >
         Privacy and data processing
       </Link>
diff --git a/src/lib/ui-copy.ts b/src/lib/ui-copy.ts
index 00b8ba612..c82ee02fb 100644
--- a/src/lib/ui-copy.ts
+++ b/src/lib/ui-copy.ts
@@ -105,15 +105,12 @@ export const emptyStates = {
   },
 } as const;
 
-// Privacy / data-handling copy — the APP-5 warning shown at the query composer
-// plus the labels for the /privacy transparency page. Wording is a
-// plain-language engineering summary of docs/privacy-impact-assessment.md; it is
-// not legal advice. See PIA-1 / PIA-5. The composer link is deliberately concise;
-// the full detail lives on /privacy.
+// Privacy / data-handling copy — labels for the /privacy transparency page.
+// Wording is a plain-language engineering summary of
+// docs/privacy-impact-assessment.md; it is not legal advice. See PIA-1 /
+// PIA-5. The APP-5 composer/upload warning itself lives in
+// components/privacy-input-notice.tsx.
 export const privacyCopy = {
-  composerWarning: "Don't enter identifiable patient details.",
-  composerLinkLabel: "Privacy & data handling",
-  noticeAriaLabel: "Privacy and data-handling notice",
   pageEyebrow: "Privacy",
   pageTitle: "Privacy & data handling",
 } as const;
diff --git a/tests/ui-smoke.spec.ts b/tests/ui-smoke.spec.ts
index 14b63fea9..b28eea651 100644
--- a/tests/ui-smoke.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/ui-smoke.spec.ts
@@ -1563,8 +1563,8 @@ test.describe("Clinical KB UI smoke coverage", () => {
 
       await page.goto("/privacy", { waitUntil: "domcontentloaded" });
       await expect(page.getByRole("main")).toBeVisible();
-      await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { level: 1, name: "Privacy and data processing" })).toBeVisible();
-      await expect(page.getByText("Draft for privacy and clinical-governance approval")).toBeVisible();
+      await expect(page.getByRole("heading", { level: 1, name: "Privacy & data handling" })).toBeVisible();
+      await expect(page.getByText("This is draft product information", { exact: false })).toBeVisible();
       await expectNoPageHorizontalOverflow(page);
     });
   }
diff --git a/tests/ui-tools.spec.ts b/tests/ui-tools.spec.ts
index 07f46b0d3..55801e9e3 100644
--- a/tests/ui-tools.spec.ts
+++ b/tests/ui-tools.spec.ts
@@ -549,14 +549,15 @@ test.describe("Clinical KB tools launcher", () => {
 
       const warning = page.getByTestId("answer-composer-privacy-warning");
       await expect(warning).toBeVisible();
-      await expect(warning).toHaveText("Don't enter identifiable patient details.");
+      await expect(warning).toContainText("Do not enter patient-identifiable information.");
+      await expect(warning.getByRole("link", { name: "Privacy and data processing" })).toBeVisible();
       await expect(visibleGlobalSearchInput(page)).toHaveAttribute(
         "aria-describedby",
         "answer-composer-privacy-warning",
       );
-      await expect(
-        page.getByTestId("answer-empty-state").getByRole("link", { name: "Privacy & data handling" }),
-      ).toBeVisible();
+      // The composer notice is the single site-wide privacy element — no other
+      // /privacy link (e.g. the old hero-footer duplicate) may render with it.
+      await expect(page.locator('a[href="/privacy"]')).toHaveCount(1);
     }
   });