> If IP addresses were considered PII, then no routers database or Whois registries could legally exist, which would mean to a larger extent Internet routing could not exist as we know it.

I think this statement is misinformed. There are countries that have rules around protecting PII. WHOIS implementations have changed as a result, but I think these laws have carve outs that allow routers to function. The laws are more nuanced than this.

Examples:

ICANN adopted tiered access for gTLD registration information: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/gtld-registration-data...

EU courts believe that IP addresses, even dynamic IP addresses, can indirectly identify a person: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&doc...

GDPR, however has a carve out that I think permits use by internet routers. One legal justification is:

> Processing is necessary to satisfy a contract to which the data subject is a party.

If my ISP doesn't announce my IP address, then they can't connect me to the internet, which I pay them to do.