Two consumer groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to get tougher on mobile marketers.

The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (USPIRG), both non-profit privately funded organizations, filed petitions with the FTC today. They said they want the agency to explore whether new rules on mobile advertising and tracking of mobile online activity are needed to protect consumers.

"The FTC needs to look at the mobile advertising market when it comes to behavioral interactive marketing and ensure there are no threats to consumer privacy or any unfair practices in play," Jeff Chester, CDD Executive Director, told InternetNews.com.

In the new petition the groups want the FTC to redefine what's considered "unfair and deceptive" practices, review self-regulations in place, mandate notice and disclosure when it comes to data collection and protect children from unfair or deceptive mobile advertising practices on mobile handsets.

The petition also requests that the FTC investigate location-based targeting, user tracking analytics and data mining practices.

The filing is an expansion of similar action taken by the two groups in 2006 and 2007 regarding potential threats to consumer privacy from PC-based online advertising practices. It comes as interest in mobile marketing grows with the rise of smartphones in both business and consumer markets.

Privacy advocates have been calling for more scrutiny of how mobile marketers use customer data, an effort that parallels in many ways the rise of the online advertising industry. The agency is close to issuing recommendations for self-governing guidelines for the online advertising industry, many in response to earlier petitions by consumer groups.

Marketing and advertising industry associations took steps today to get ahead of the petition by announcing new efforts to enhance self-regulatory principles for online behavioral advertising.

The associations banding together are the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The Council of Better Business Bureaus(BBB), a leading organization dedicated to advancing marketplace trust, is also part of the effort.

The groups believe expanded self-regulation is the best approach.

See here for the rest of this article at InternetNews.com.