This article seeks to sketch out how the field of surveillance studies has conceptualized surveillance practices, and how cultural and technological shifts have prompted scholars to re-imagine these theoretical frameworks. The article investigates the interplay of (dystopian) popular cultural representations of surveillance cultures and the perception of and attitude towards contemporary surveillance practices, as well as how individuals react to and interact with them. The article also outlines a study regarding the aforementioned issues that was conducted among a sample of 150 university students, which focused especially on each participant s subjective ability to distinguish between fictional scenarios and real-life surveillance practices.