Method to allocate inter-dependent resources by a set of participants

The object of the present invention is a method that allows a group of independent participants to coordinate decisions with respect to the allocation of interdependent resources, while maintaining certain privacy guarantees. The present invention proposes a method to allocate inter-dependent resources by a set of at least three participants, this method comprising the steps of : a. receiving by a first participant a request for a first resource by a third participant, and agreeing between the first participant and the third participant on at least one of a pair of allocation/non-allocation keys for the first resource, the allocation key being related to the allocation of the resource and the non-allocation key being related to the non-allocation of the resource, b. receiving by a second participant a request for a second resource by the third participant, and agreeing between the second participant and the third participant on at least one of a pair of allocation/non-allocation keys for the second resource, the allocation key being related to the allocation of the resource and the non-allocation key being related to the non-allocation of the resource, c. the third participant defining at least a first preference value defining his interest in a first combination of allocation or non-allocation of the first and second resources, d. the third participant obfuscating said first preference value using the two keys corresponding to the first combination of allocation and non-allocation of the first and second resources, e. transmitting the first obfuscated value directly or indirectly to the second participant, f. de-obfuscating by the second participant the received preference value using the corresponding allocation/non-allocation keys.