Is it ethical to use previous data from work in academic research? I worked in the Geospatial industry for 12 years+ with 4 companies and am currently in an academic field. One of the companies was forest plantations and no longer exists.   

I have a lot of geospatial data (satellite imageries, radar, UAV aerial photos, field records etc.) which I think is a waste if not used for good. This especially when coupled with latest data—for example, to investigate temporal analysis of land use/cover, forest and plantation—would result in impressive outputs. 

Please give your opinions. Thank you.
In your current academic organization, there should be an Ethical Approval Committee and they can help with legal obligations on using any data. In my opinion, the first step will be talking to the committee.