While most stakeholders paint the promise of ambient intelligence (AmI) in sunny colours, there is a dark side to AmI as well. In a way, this dark side is inherent in the very nature of AmI. Intelligent networks embedded everywhere will enable data aggregators to acquire a lot more personal information, far more than in today’s world, greatly magnifying the risk of abuse of that data. Most AmI scenarios show the benefits of AmI. The dark scenarios developed by the SWAMI project (Safeguards in a World of Ambient Intelligence) , one of which follows, are different from most other AmI scenarios, because they illustrate risks that need to be mediated if AmI is to be a future success story. The scenario hinges on the theft of data from a multinational company. The company suffers from an illusion of security – i.e., it believes it has implemented more than adequate security measures, but discovers that it has not. Following presentation of the scenario, the authors provide an analysis of it. Just as there are different types of scenarios, there is no single approach to developing or deconstructing and analysing scenarios. However, the authors commend their methodological structure not only for analysing scenarios but also for testing their validity as they are being constructed.