A method and system securely discloses a shared, identity linked secret known by two parties, while preserving the privacy of the parties. The first party generates a challenge value that only the second party could respond correctly to if and only if the second party shares secret S with the first party. The first party generates a counter-challenge for the challenge value, computes a verifier associated with the challenge and counter-challenge, and sends the counter-challenge to the server. The server sends the counter-challenge value to the second party. The second party computes a verifier associated with the challenge and counter-challenge, the verifier matches the verifier computed by the second party if and only if the second party shares secret S with the first party. The parties execute a gradual release process, which confirms a match if and only if the secret S is shared between the parties.