Eventually, cards will hold the person's name, age, and birth date, as well as fingerprint or iris scans [...] Arg. Why are they putting this info on the flip

Eventually, cards will hold the person's name, age, and birth date, as well as fingerprint or iris scans [...] Arg. Why are they putting this info on the flipping cards? I just can't understand why these types of ID systems are implemented in an era where it's so easy to hack/crack/counterfeit anything that was made more than six months ago. No system should involve the object which is to be verified presenting you with the credentials through which to verify it. Cards should be as dumb as possible: They should have a unique ID printed on them. Done. Information on the cards is for the cardholder, not for the verifier. Thus, it may be nice to put the name of cardholder on there, possibly a birth date, so that people don't get cards mixed up. A expiration sticker may also be desirable to remind the cardholder he/she needs to renew. Anything else you put on there (pictures, descriptions, fingerprints, etc) is dangerous because it will tend to make officials trust the cards, which is exactly what we don't want. We also don't want anything on there which could be useful for someone else (baddies) to know. No holograms, UV stripes, smart cards, etc are necessary, unless you think they're pretty and like spending money. People should be able to auth just by remembering their number.