Is it unlawful to collect and extract data on activities and entities, such as restaurants, schools, and medicines, if there is a possibility that these entities deal in unlawful matters or that the use of such data might lead to unlawful acts, knowing that the nature of the work is solely data collection and not participation in the activity itself?

Thinking in this way is incorrect, and delving into doubts leads to hardship and difficulty. Gathering information about areas of corruption is not always a means to evil; rather, it can be a means to ward off evil or to assess reality. The questioner can work in the mentioned field, unless he knows that his gathering of information will directly aid in a sin or lead to an evil.