New York (CNN Business) Facebook plans to integrate its messaging platforms, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger, according to a report from the New York Times.

The three services would remain separate apps, but their infrastructure behind the scenes would be the same.

Even with minimal changes on the surface, the move could have an impact on the billions of people who use the tools. For example, it could allow the company to build a single user profile from its different apps to better target ads.

The apps could also get end-to-end encryption, which shields messages from being read by people outside of the conversation, according to Facebook.

"We're working on making more of our messaging products end-to-end encrypted and considering ways to make it easier to reach friends and family across networks," a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. "As you would expect, there is a lot of discussion and debate as we begin the long process of figuring out all the details of how this will work."

Read More