Rolling back a feature it introduced in 2015, Facebook Inc. has quietly removed the ability to sign up for its Messenger chat service without a Facebook account.

VentureBeat was first to report the change Thursday afternoon and the social network confirmed it in a statement. 

“If you’re new to Messenger, you’ll notice that you need a Facebook account to chat with friends and close connections,” Facebook said. “We found that the vast majority of people who use Messenger already log in through Facebook and we want to simplify the process. If you already use Messenger without a Facebook account, no need to do anything.”

The change comes amid the social network’s ongoing project to integrate Messenger with Instagram and WhatsApp on the same unified communications infrastructure. The goal, Facebook has stated, is to allow users to send messages between apps to make chatting more convenient.

Also on the agenda: better privacy. Facebook, which was hit with numerous scandals and a $5 billion fine this year for inadequately protecting user data, reportedly wants to implement universal end-to-end encryption across its messaging apps. End-to-end encryption schemes scramble a user’s messages before they leave their device so even the company whose servers process the data — in this case Facebook — theoretically can’t read their contents.

But the plan has been met by suspicion in some corners. Most notably, U.S. Federal Trade Commission Chairman Joseph Simons warned that Facebook’s plan to connect its messaging apps may make it harder for regulators to break up the social network should the decision be made to do so. The FTC is reportedly weighing whether to file an injunction against Facebook that would halt the integration effort.

The social network’s move to require a Facebook account for Messenger sign-ups might be a signal of things to come. Like Messenger did before the update, WhatsApp and Instagram currently allow users to register without a Facebook account, but the services’ planned integration with one another may weaken the boundaries among the company’s online properties.

Some employees are said to have raised concerns about the matter internally. In January, the New York Times reported that dozens of WhatsApp employees had expressed fears that Facebook could gain the ability to match WhatsApp users’ phone numbers to Facebook accounts.

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