Facial recognition systems use advanced computing to capture facial information and compare the same with proprietary databases for validation. The emergence of data capturing intermediaries and open access image repositories have compounded the need for a holistic perspective for handling the privacy and security challenges associated with FRS. The study presents the results of a bibliometric analysis conducted on the topic of privacy, ethical and security aspects of FRS. This study presents the level of academic discussion on the topic using bibliometric performance analysis. The results of the bibliographic coupling analysis to identify the research hotspots are also presented. The results also include the systematic literature review of 148 publications that are distributed across seven themes. Both the bibliometric and systematic analysis showed that privacy and security in FRS requires a holistic perspective that cuts across privacy, ethical, security, legal, policy and technological aspects.