New Law imposes a penalty up to 500,000 Saudi Riyal ($133,000) prison or both.

Now Spying on your spouse's phone in Saudi Arabia is an offence and it carries a hefty fine and up to a year in prison, under a new law.

It aims to "protect morals of individuals and society and protect privacy".

According to a statement late on Monday by the ministry of culture, Punishment will apply to both men and women in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom.

But it could tend to protect husbands from their wives.

Evidently in many other parts of the Muslim world, Saudi laws on divorce, inspired by scripture, often require wives seeking alimony to provide evidence of abuse or sexual promiscuity.

It is found that a husband's phone can be a rich source of such evidence.

Being called the Anti-Cyber-crime Law, the measure makes "spying on, interception or reception of data transmitted through an information network or a computer without legitimate authorization" a crime.

New Law imposes a penalty up to 500,000 Saudi riyal ($133,000), prison or both.

"Social media has resulted in a steady increase in cybercrimes such as blackmail, embezzlement and defamation, not to mention hacking of accounts", the ministry said.

One similar law on the books in the neighbouring United Arab Emirates also bars the practice, carrying a minimum three-month prison term and 3,000 dirham ($817) fine.

Saudi as a oil-rich and tech-obsessed countries are among the most avid social media users in the world, but traditional values remain ascendant, even in courts.

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